Chapter 4
1. (Verse 1.) Now the Bridegroom, turned towards the praise of the bride, says: How beautiful you are, my friend, how beautiful you are! Your eyes are like doves, beyond silence. Beautiful in preaching, beautiful in conversation. He also says, her eyes are like doves. The eyes are the man's, that is, they are adorned with spiritual senses, which are sharp for seeing mysteries, and prepared for penetrating the secret divine Scriptures, shining with reasonable milk, in which there is no confused stain of deceit, but the pure and immaculate simplicity of sincere affection. Therefore, after being washed in the abundance of water, she remembered these doves in milk.
Moreover, we understand that the teeth and cheeks, like a scarlet net, symbolize the virtues of the soul and the diverse dispositions of teachers: who either diligently provide spiritual nourishment through careful administration, or bind the listener with the preaching of the Lord's cross, like a certain line of the Word; or with true modesty and the pleasantness of youth. Although they may be withdrawn by the sense of shame, nevertheless the fragrance of Christ may emanate from them: and just as the ointment descends onto the cheeks as if from a priestly head, so may the beauty of doctrine shine forth from them.
Your eyes are like doves outside your silence; so that you may see and know both spiritually the time to be silent and the time to speak; so that in the time of speaking you may bring forth words and not be able to incur the sin of speaking with importunity.
Your eyes, like doves. Here the dove, that is, the simplicity and grace of the Church is revealed. So see the simplicity of the eyes, for he who sees the just and rejoices himself desires to be just: for it is beautiful that he delights in others in what he himself wishes to preserve, if he can: for it is inherent to the good that the chaste love the modest, the wise the affections of the pious, the merciful the liberal, and love their own virtues in others. For most people, even the sight of righteous conduct is a reminder of correction, but for the more perfect it is a source of joy. For if there is such power in natural things that the sight of an animal benefits those suffering from jaundice, so much so that it is said that even the dead body of that animal can be beneficial to them if it has been shown to those who have experienced such a condition, can we doubt that the sight of righteous conduct, whose eyes are like doves, simple and modest, can heal? Therefore, does this lowly irrational animal have such great virtue that it can heal a person in a brief moment of being seen: a righteous person, if indeed they are seen with faith by someone who desires to derive benefit from them, will they contribute nothing? How beautiful, therefore, you appear and excel!
5. Therefore, a just man is good. Finally, the Apostle Paul went up to Jerusalem to see the just ones: and he stayed with Peter for fifteen days, in order to benefit from his companionship (Gal. 1:18). Therefore, both Paul and Barnabas entered Jerusalem and were warmly welcomed by the Church, the apostles, and the elders. But when they wanted to leave, they were begged not to depart, and as we read later about Paul, he was led away with tears. Do not the rays of his own eyes seem to infuse a certain power into those who desire to see him faithfully?
But just as the righteous person brings joy to the heart of the innocent, it seems that the wicked are tormented by their knowledge of the righteous, because they are accused by the silent virtues of the saints. Chastity torments the impure, generosity torments greed, and faith torments impiety. Let us also take a similar example from a lowly creature. For just as we said that a mute animal seems to benefit, so we perceive that a wolf is harmful if it anticipates someone by seeing them; for they are said to lose their voice, those whom the wolf has seen first. The basilisk, also known as the harmful serpent, is said to kill whatever animal it sees first. It is said that anyone who is able to foresee such a serpent will be immediately killed. The serpent itself is said to die if it is prevented from being seen by a human. Therefore, if there is such power either in the eyes of the serpent or in the eyes of a human that if one sees the other first, it can kill, then there is no power in the eyes of the just person who is filled with the grace of virtue, especially since faith alone works so much. For even the woman who touched the fringe of the Lord's garment was healed, and the one on whom the Lord Jesus looked immediately drew the grace of healing from His eyes.
7. But he who sees the just must know what he sees. He does not see him in the body, nor in clothing, nor in wealth, nor in appearance: but he sees him within. No, I say, he does not see him unless he sees his mind, unless he understands his speech, unless he can comprehend his meaning, unless he is able to derive wisdom from his discourse. Therefore, he will rejoice when he has perceived these things, when he has come to know them. So let us also, whenever we hear of a just person, hasten to see him, like that woman who heard that the Lord Jesus was reclining in the house of the Pharisee, and she entered and anointed his feet with ointment (Luke VII, 37 and 38). Let us be imitators of him, for who would doubt that the Church is represented in that woman? Therefore, wherever the righteous man sits, wherever he reclines, let us hasten to see him. It is precious to see a righteous man, to see him according to the image of God. What is external is of no use: what is internal heals. Truly, even in the one who is external, we frequently see the one who is internal: so that if we see a poor person, let us honor him in the poor person, in whom he has been made similar, of whom he says: 'You gave me food to eat, for whatever you gave to one of the least of these, you gave to me.' (Matthew 25:35 and 40).
8. Your hair is like a flock of goats that have been revealed from Mount Gilead. Why hair? Because the power of all the senses is in the head: For the eyes of the wise are in his head (Eccl. II). Therefore, the deep wisdom of the learned can reveal those things that are hidden and unlock the depths of understanding.
9. (Verse 2.) Your teeth are like a flock of shorn sheep, which came up from the washing, all of which bear twins, and none is barren among them. What is said in appearance about goats is to be understood mystically about the flock of the Church. Do not let these animals seem worthless to you; you see that this flock grazes in the heights, bold on the mountain. Therefore, where there are cliffs for others, there is no danger for the goats; where there is danger for others, there is nourishment for that flock, there is sweeter food, there is more excellent fruit. They watch over their sheep, hanging from the bushy rock where the attacks of wolves cannot reach, and there they supply the whole fruit of fertile trees. It is possible to see them stretched out, distended with abundant milk, solicitous for their tender offspring with motherly affection. Therefore, the Holy Spirit has chosen them, in order to prepare the venerable Church for union.
10. And so that you may hear mystically, the hair of the Word is height, and a certain eminence of righteous souls; because the sense of the wise is in their head. For it is certain that there is wisdom in the height of human thought. And just as goats are shorn to remove the excess: so also the flock of shorn souls, that is, the holy Church, has the virtues of many souls, in which flock you can find nothing insensitive, nothing excessive; for faith has made the wise, and spiritual grace has cleansed from every excessive stain.
11. Therefore, rightly are the souls of the just revealed, and revealed from the mountain of Gilead, that is, from the transmigration of testimony, because the heavenly testimony migrated from the Synagogue to the Church. On this mountain, therefore, frankincense, resin, and other fragrances are born, which those merchants, the Ishmaelites, as you have in the first book of the Old Testament, used to bring (Gen. XXXVII, 25). Therefore, just as goats, nourished with good food and flourishing in the warmth of the sun, are washed in a river and, rejoicing, emerge clean from the river, so the souls of the just ascend from the spiritual bath.
12. These are truly the ones who create twins, in whom there is no infertility of any virtues, no barrenness of merits. They create twins well, because they multiply their senses; hence you have it written in Proverbs: 'And you write these things to yourself threefold, in counsel, and in knowledge' (Prov. XXII, 20). He prefaced a triple writing, and added two, counsel and knowledge. But knowledge is twofold, one of incorporeal things, the other of corporeal things; hence you also have in the following: 'Your two breasts are like two fawns, twins of a gazelle, which feed among the lilies, until the day breathes and the shadows flee away' (Vers. 5).
13. We spoke of fertility, let us now speak of teeth. For many, both sailors and those traveling on land, when they see a beautiful place, they stop for the sake of pleasure, delighting their eyes and lifting their spirits. It is not considered a delay in their journey, but rather a gratification. In the same way, it is dear to us to consider the most beautiful teeth of righteous souls; for the Scripture teaches that the teeth of the righteous are beautiful, speaking literally of the patriarch Judah and spiritually of Christ: 'His eyes will be sparkling with wine, and his teeth as white as milk' (Genesis 49:12). In which he preached not the duties of human flesh, but the gifts of divine grace. Therefore, it teaches the example, that the teeth should not be overlooked when we talk about the eyes.
14. Who then are the dentists of righteous souls, if not those who receive rough and hard food, often cold or excessively hot, sometimes breaking it down, sometimes nourishing it, sometimes moderating it, depending on the quality of the nourishment? They break down the hard parts, lest the harshness of the letter in the Old Testament and the rigid understanding of the world suffocate the very life of the sacred books, closing off the vital supplies, and the throat of the soul, with an incurious, gluttonous consumption. Therefore, it is necessary that you first separate, if the food that is consumed seems solid to you, and distinguish it; and that you transfer it softened, without any harm to the soul, into all the members of its body through natural division; so that every part of its body may be nourished by the vital juice, and that you may not take anything putrid or dead into your mouth, so that it may not be said: The throat of those is an open sepulcher (Psalm 13:3). But you should drink in the living word, so that it may be able to operate in the depths of your mind. Teeth brighter than milk; for the teeth of the righteous.
Finally, when all our fathers were baptized in the cloud and in the sea with Moses, it is not without reason that it is written: 'For all of them ate the same spiritual food, and all of them drank the same spiritual drink' (1 Corinthians 10:3-4), so that a greater light might shine upon those holy teeth of theirs, whom we will know to have been purified after crossing the Red Sea, tempered by the bitterness of the fountain of myrrh through the grace of the wood (Exodus 15:25); then by the drink of twelve fountains, and finally by the spiritual water from the flowing rock; for the rock was Christ (1 Corinthians 10:3-4). Therefore they ate manna (Num. XX, 11), so that they might eat bread as many times as they were washed, as it is written, of angels (Psalm. LXXVII, 25). Now also in the mysteries of the Gospel, you recognize those who have been baptized, although they are washed with their whole body, afterwards they are cleansed by spiritual food and drink; for that is the true brightness of the teeth, where the melodious confession of a well-conscious mind resounds. That is the clean eye, which no beam of heavy sins can depress, which no light speck of impurities can disturb.
16. Your teeth are like a flock of shorn sheep that have come up from the washing, all of which bear twins, and not one among them is barren. This is no mean praise, first fittingly compared to a flock of sheep; for we know that goats can safely graze on high places and take food without danger on precipices, but when they are shorn, they are relieved of their superfluous burdens. The Church is compared to this flock, having in herself many virtues of souls which through the washing cast off superfluous sins, which bestow the mystical faith and moral grace upon Christ, which speak of the Lord Jesus' cross. In her is the beauty of the Church, wherein God the Word says to her: Behold thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thine eyes are as doves. Thou art all fair, my love; there is no spot in thee; because the stain of sin is washed away. Come from Lebanon, my spouse, come from Lebanon, and thou shalt pass from the beginning of faith; for she, renouncing the world, hath passed over the ages, and hath come to Christ.
17. (Verse 3.) Your lips are like a scarlet thread. For scarlet is the appearance of fire, and the blood of the Lord's cross is mingled with it. The scarlet lips of the Lord spoke of His own passion. Indeed, in Exodus, scarlet was placed in the fire (Exod. 25:4). For the world is not without scarlet, but consists of four elements. But in scarlet, the figure of fire is expressed, the vapor of which, if it did not penetrate the heavens and the air, the seas and the lands, would cause everything to fall apart as if its strength had been exhausted. Therefore, we recognize the thread of persuasion through the network, either through the crimson color of desire that sparkles in the minds of the audience, or through an indication of passion.
18. (Verse 4.) As the tower of David, your neck is built in Thalphioth, a thousand shields hang upon it, all the spears of the mighty. For your neck is raised up to God, and is ready for the yoke of Christ, which will not bend in the deceitful ways of the world. Just like the royal tower of Christ, to which Nebuchadnezzar cannot impose his yoke. For that tower was built by the strong hand of David, and was built high above the walls, so that it may serve both as a defense and as a decoration. As a defense, because it foresees and repels the enemy; as a decoration, because it not only surpasses what is low, but also what is high. However, it is also helpful or decorous if it contains within itself the teachings of the word, like certain ornaments or necklaces: if it also has the javelins of powerful prophets, which are directed against every exalting of oneself, guided by the arms of faith.
Therefore, do not let your soul be drawn into the dust of death, to which the Lord has also given natural height and strength, by which it may raise itself up and ascend. Hence, it is well said of this conjunction of soul and body, because in the natural mystery of our life, the soul, joined to the body, crawls upon the ground like a reptile and clings to the earth, partly because of this earthly dwelling, partly because this body is from the earth. And so, both the region of our body and the material itself of our body agree with this opinion. Therefore, the Apostle desires to be freed beautifully from the death of this body, because we are enclosed in a certain prison and we are enveloped in the craving darkness of sins.
Therefore, let us walk according to the will of God, so that we may be called to adhere to God. For he who lives according to the desires of the body is flesh, but he who lives according to the precepts of God is spirit. Therefore, may our soul not become flesh, that is, may we not be called flesh, just as those who perished in the flood, of whom it is said: "For they are flesh" (Genesis VI, 3). Rather, let our flesh be obedient to the governance of the soul, and may the soul become flesh, and may it deserve to be called by that name, just as the family of the patriarch Jacob and his holy posterity were called; for thus it is written: These are the descendants of Bala, whom Rachel, his daughter, gave birth to; she bore for Jacob seven souls. And there: But all the souls that came with Jacob into Egypt, that came out of his thigh, besides the wives of his sons, sixty-six (Gen. XLVI, 25 and 26). And at the beginning of Exodus we read: Now all the souls that came out of Jacob were seventy-five (Exod. I, 5).
Therefore, those who lived with Joseph and came out of Egypt are souls; but those who were with the angels of God, that is, imitating the grace of angelic life (for those who do not marry or take wives will be like the angels of God in heaven, as it is written: 'For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven' (Matthew XXII, 30)), those who appeared with the angels were captivated by feminine beauty, they are of flesh, as the Lord God said: 'My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh' (Genesis VI, 3). And rightfully so, they are compared to angels, for they are not of the flesh, because they are not in the flesh, but in the spirit: such were those who followed the teaching of the Apostle, to whom he said: But you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit (Rom. VIII, 9). But those who are captivated by the lust for women are of the flesh: and would that they were only of the flesh, and not also like neighing horses! For it is said: They neighed after their neighbor's wife (Jerem. V, 8).
22. (Verse 7.) You are entirely beautiful, my love, and there is no flaw in you. Indeed, who can estimate the greatness of her beauty, who is loved by the king, approved by the judge, dedicated to the Lord, consecrated to God? Always a bride, always a virgin; so that love has no end, and modesty no loss. Truly, this is the true beauty, to which nothing is lacking, which alone deserves to hear from the Lord: You are entirely beautiful, my love, and there is no flaw in you.
23. (Verse 8.) Come here from Lebanon, come here from Lebanon: you will pass through and go over from the beginning of faith, from the head of Sanir and Hermon, from the hiding places of lions, from the mountains of leopards. By these signs, the perfect and blameless beauty of the virgin soul consecrated to divine altars is shown, not bent towards mortal things, but focused on the mysteries of God, worthy to have deserved the beloved, whose breasts are full of joy; For wine gladdens the heart of man.
24. And the smell, he says, of your garments, like the smell of Lebanon. Come from Lebanon, O bride, come from Lebanon: you shall pass over and pass through from the beginning of faith: you shall pass through the world contending, you shall pass through to Christ triumphing over the world. You have heard that he separated you from the lions and leopards, that is, the attacks of spiritual wickedness: you have heard that the beauty of your virtues pleases Him.
Come here from Lebanon, my bride, come here from Lebanon: you will cross over and pass through from the beginning of faith, from the head of Sanir and Hermon, from the dens of lions, from the mountains of leopards; that is, come out of the body, and leave all of yourself outside. You cannot be present to me unless you first journey away from the body; for those who are in the flesh journey away from the kingdom of God. Come, he says, come. He repeats it well, because whether present or absent, you must be present and pleasing to the Lord your God: be present when present, be present when absent, even though you are still in the body; for all of those whose faith is with me are present to me. There is one who came forth from the world for me: there is one who thinks of me, looks upon me, hopes in me, of whom I am a part: there is one who has been absent to himself: he is with me, who is not within himself; for he who is in the flesh is not in the spirit: he is with me, who goes forth from himself; he is near me, who has been outside himself: he is whole to me, who has lost his own soul for my sake; and therefore, come, come, oh bride; you will pass over and pass through from the beginning of faith. He travels through and surpasses all that reaches Christ: he travels through the merit of faith, and the brightness of works, which shines like Sanir and Hermon, that is, the way of the lantern: he travels through the conquered temptations of the world, and the defeated spiritual wickedness, seeking the legitimate crown of the contest.
You have wounded my heart, my sister, my bride, you have wounded my heart with one of your eyes, with one strand of your hair. For these eyes are the eyes of the mind, namely of the inner man, not those eyes that carry out the ministry of sight. For there is an eye of the mind and of the flesh, but that blind eye is the one that does not see the things that are divine, which is inflated in vain by the mind of the flesh. There is also another eye, the sense of Christ, by which the Church sees Christ, as He Himself says to His Bride: You have taken us with your heart, from one of your eyes. Christ deserves to be seen with one eye, because he is not seen with the carnal eye, or because having two eyes, the Church sees Christ more with the eye of faith; for the mystical eye is sharper, the moral eye sweeter.
27. And perhaps these are the eyes with which Paul saw the eternal things, where he began to no longer see temporal things. Finally, he who did not see Christ before losing his sight, saw Him after losing the sight of his eyes; for he saw Him who said, 'Who are you, Lord?' (Acts 9:5). Certainly, he saw Christ, whom he also acknowledged as Lord. And below, he said, 'Lord, what do you want me to do?' Therefore, did he not see Him whose command he awaited? Therefore, with what eyes did Paul begin to see more clearly, except those that he himself showed us, saying: I will pray with the spirit, I will pray also with the mind (I Cor. XIV, 15)? Indeed, so that you may know that he saw by praying: It happened, he said, as I returned to Jerusalem, when I was praying in the temple, I had a sense of dread, I saw him saying to me: Hurry, leave Jerusalem quickly; for they will not accept your testimony about me (Act. XXII, 17 and 18).
28. Therefore, these eyes fail in the word of God, and say: When will you comfort me? These eyes were called the eyes of the prophets, because through revelation they saw things that were hidden with their minds. But because the eye of the mind and the eye of the flesh are one eye, and then man is comforted when the flesh and the mind do not desire different things, but desire and seek one thing; therefore, they are attentive to him who says: I and the Father are one (John 10:30). These eyes also confess that they are one; because they perform the same desire and function.
29. (Verse 10.) Your breasts are more beautiful than wine, and the scent of your ointments is above all aromas. And below: The smell of your garments is like that of Lebanon. See what progress you give us, virgin! For your first scent surpasses all aromas that have been sent by the Savior's tomb, and it brings the sweet smell of the dead body's movement and the decay of the limbs. Your second scent, like the scent of Lebanon, exhales the integrity of the Lord's body, the flower of virgin purity. May they therefore construct a beehive of honey by means of your work. The odor of garments is also the odor of our actions. Therefore, bring your hands to your nostrils and explore the odor of your actions with tireless and alert enthusiasm of the mind. The fragrance of your right hand will soothe you, and the limbs of your resurrection will exude a burning scent; the myrrh of your finger will sweat, that is, the grace of true faith will burn with spiritual works. Therefore, virgin, you capture pleasure from within your body, and you yourself are sweet to yourself, you yourself are pleasing to yourself (which often happens to sinners), you do not begin to displease yourself.
30. (Verse 11.) The dripping honeycomb, your lips, my bride. Therefore let your works compose the honeycomb; for virginity is worthy to be compared to bees, so laborious, so chaste, so continent: the bee feeds on dew, knows no union, composes honey. Dew is also the divine word to the virgin; because as the dew, the words of God descend. Modesty of the virgin is an untarnished nature, the offspring of the virgin is the fruit of the lips, devoid of bitterness, fertile in sweetness: a shared labor, a shared fruit. How I wish, daughter, that you would imitate this little bee, whose food is the flower, whose offspring is read by the mouth, whose offspring is composed by the mouth. Imitate her, daughter; let your words have no veil of deceit, let them have no cloak of fraud, so that they may be both pure and full of gravity. Let the eternal posterity of your merits be born from your mouth, not only for yourself, but also for many others, for who knows when your soul will be demanded of you; lest, leaving behind the storehouses filled with gathered grain, you are carried away by that which cannot carry your treasure. Therefore, give to the wealthy, but also to the poor, so that they may be participants of your nature and also participants of your abilities.
31. Honeycomb dripping from your lips, O bride. Tell us, Solomon, what is this honeycomb? For you have said: Good words are like a honeycomb (Prov. XVI, 24). And truly, a good honeycomb is the one that the Church consumes, filled with the spiritual abundance of many prophets, emitting the fragrance of honey. This is the honey that it is said: I have eaten my bread with honey (Cant. V, 1). The lips of the preacher drip with honey, when the broken parts of the fallen soul are revived amidst harsh trials and ruins. Your lips drip honey, O bride; honey and milk are under your tongue; the mouth of the righteous distills wisdom. From the mouth of the righteous comes forth sweetness and mercy; in the mouth of the righteous there is no deceit, no falsehood, no bitterness of sin. The Church hears the words of the righteous, the people of God hear the words of the wise; they delight in the sweetness of conversation, they are soothed by the delight of moral discussion, saying: How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Because honey of bees pleases for an hour, but its taste quickly disappears, and usually the viscera are harmed: however, even though the honey of moral words sting, they do not harm.
32. However, find out to whom those things are believed; for it is written: Do not say anything in the ear of a fool, lest he ridicule your wise words (Prov. XXIII, 9). He will vomit and reject your speech, the fool who cannot perceive its sweetness. How can the words of God be sweet in your mouth, in which there is bitterness of wickedness? How can honey and milk be under your tongue, when your tongue produces deceit; so that you conceive one thing in your heart, and present another thing in your public speech, in order to deceive the unwary? When the apostle Peter tells you to put away all wickedness and deceitful behavior, saying: 'As newborn babies, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby.' (1 Peter 2:2). For he shows us what it means to have honey and milk under the tongue, teaching us not to curse those who curse us, but rather to return a blessing. Let us not hate except the way of wickedness, so that we may avoid doing what we detest, resisting it with all our might.
33. (Verse 12.) My sister, my bride, is a closed garden, a closed garden, a sealed fountain. Your shoots, etc. Because in gardens of this kind the image of God, impressed with seals, shines forth like a pure spring, and the flowing streams of spiritual beasts do not disturb it with scattered filth. Hence, that modesty enclosed by a wall of the Spirit is shut in, so as not to be exposed to plunder. Therefore, just as a garden inaccessible to thieves smells of vines, burns with the fragrance of olives, and shines with roses, so may the religion of the vine, peace of the olive, and modesty of sacred virginity grow in the rose. This is the scent which the patriarch Jacob smelled, when he deserved to hear: Behold, the scent of my son is as the scent of a field full (Genesis 27:27). For although the field of the holy patriarch was full of almost all fruits, he nonetheless generated the fruits with greater virtue and labor, while this one produced flowers. Therefore, prepare yourself, virgin, and if you desire such a garden to breathe upon you, enclose it with prophetic precepts: Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips (Psalm 141:3).
34. My sister, my bride, a closed garden, a sealed fountain. Your shoots are an orchard of pomegranates, with choice fruits, henna with nard plants. The Bride is praised because she is a garden, full of the fragrance of that field, of which Isaac says: 'The fragrance of my son is like the fragrance of a field that the Lord has blessed' (Genesis 27:27). Therefore, a good soul burns with the fragrance of justice. And perhaps the field is the patriarch, the garden is the soul of someone lower, like a portion of the field. And the closed garden is not to be invaded by beasts, and the sealed fountain, by the integrity of the seal and the perseverance of faith, washes away their own sins. For the one who receives from the Church has something to refer to the grace of virginity because in the paradise of delight he receives spiritual fruits without labor, so that the souls of the patriarchs may confer their fruits to him through a certain labor of his own soul, by which he may be able to partake of perpetual sweetness: which is rightly called a sealed fountain, because the image of the invisible God is expressed in it.
35. My sister, my bride, is a closed garden, a sealed fountain. All the doctors agree on paradise, and the rooted tree of life and the tree of knowledge, by which one discerns good and evil: and the other trees, full of strength, full of life-giving power, and breathing and rational. From this it is gathered that paradise itself can be seen as earthly, not in any one place, but in our principal one, where the soul is animated and enlivened by virtues and the infusion of the Holy Spirit. Finally, Solomon clearly declared that paradise is in man's spirit. And because he expresses the mysteries of either the soul and the Word, or Christ and the Church; therefore he says about the virgin soul or the Church, which he wanted to assign as a chaste virgin to Christ: A closed paradise, my sister bride, a closed paradise, a sealed fountain. Paradise is called 'hortus' in Greek and 'garden' in Latin. Finally, Susanna was in paradise, and it is thus read in Latin: and Adam was in paradise, and we read it as such. Therefore, do not be surprised that some Latin texts have 'hortus' (garden) and others have 'paradisus' (paradise). In the garden, there is a chaste wife, and also a virgin. The virgin may have her own enclosure and seals, but both are in paradise; so that they may be cooled by the shade of virtues against the heat of the body and the burning desire of the flesh.
36. Therefore, paradise is in our principal, flourishing with the plantations of many opinions, in which God primarily establishes the tree of life, that is, the root of devotion. For it is the substance of our life, if we render proper worship to the Lord our God. It also establishes the seedbed of knowledge of good and evil; for man alone, among other earthly creatures, has knowledge of good and evil. There are also other diverse plants there, whose fruits are virtues. But because the capacity of man's knowledge was known by God to be affected, so that he would be inclined more quickly to cunning than to the highest prudence; and since the quality of his work could not escape the judgment of the one who established certain limits in our soul, he wished to eliminate cunning from paradise, as a provident author of our salvation, and to infuse into us the desire for the study and discipline of piety. Therefore, he commanded man to taste from every tree in paradise, but not to taste from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. But because every creature is subject to passion, pleasure has slipped into human affections like a serpentine movement.
Therefore, it is not without reason that the holy Moses depicted the delight of the serpent by means of a likeness; for it is prone on its belly like a serpent, not walking on feet or raised with any limbs, but smooth with the sinuous movement of its entire body. Just as for the serpent, the earth is its food, because it is ignorant of heavenly sustenance; for it is nourished by bodily things and is transformed into various forms of desires, and it twists and bends with tortuous windings. It has poison in its teeth, by which each luxurious person disembowels themselves, a glutton annihilates, a prodigal destroys. How many wines it has broken, drunkenness dissolves, indigestion extends! Now I understand the reason why the Lord God breathed into the face of man; for there are all the senses, there are the seats and enticements of pleasure, in the eyes, ears, nostrils, and in the mouth; so that he might make our senses stronger against pleasure. Therefore, the serpent has infused cunning into us; for it is not pleasure, but toil and prolonged meditation with the grace of God that gives perfect prudence. However, because the inheritance of the human race is entangled in the deceit of the serpent, let us follow the cunning of the serpent, so that we do not expose our head to dangers, but rather safeguard it above all else; and our head is Christ. Let this remain inviolate, so that the poisons of the serpent cannot harm us: for wisdom is good with inheritance, that is, with faith; because the inheritance of believers is in the Lord.
38. But if the first man, who spoke with God and was placed in paradise, was able to fall so easily, having been created from the earth, while the virgin, who was formed and created at the recent dawn of the word of God, had not yet been stained by that parricidal and others' concrete blood, not yet polluted by crimes and disgrace, not yet condemned by our flesh to the curse of an obnoxious inheritance: how much more easily afterwards, along the slippery path to sin, did he bring a greater precipice to the human race, when the worse succeeded the tolerable in succession of generations! For indeed, if a magnet, a stone, has such a great force of nature that it attracts and transfuses iron into its own likeness, and if, when many people who wish to experiment have brought several iron rings near that stone, it holds all of them in the same way: then if you bring another ring near that stone to which the stone has adhered, and then in order replace each one; although the force of nature from that stone permeates into all of them in order, it binds together the previous ones with a stronger connection and the later ones with a weaker connection: to that extent the condition and nature of the human race, having fallen from a purer state into a worse one, has reached a weaker state! For if through these (senses) the nature is diminished, which are not capable of fault: by how much more the virtue of that (nature) is dulled through polluted minds and limbs (affected) by sins! Therefore, because malice triumphed, innocence was abolished, there was no one who could do goodness, there was not even one. And so the Lord came, who would reform the grace of nature, indeed increase it; so that where sin abounded, grace would superabound.
Therefore it is clear that God is the author of humankind, and that there is only one God, not many gods, but one who created the world, and one world, not many worlds as the philosophers say. First, he created the world, then the inhabitant of the world, to whom the whole world would be his homeland: for if a wise person were to go anywhere today, they would be a citizen everywhere, they would understand everything as their own, they would never consider themselves a stranger or a guest. How much more so was that first man, he was a resident of the whole world, and as the Greeks say, a citizen of the universe, a recent interlocutor of God, a constant citizen of the holy ones! Complantatus virtutibus, praepositus omnibus terrenis animantibus, marinis, volatilibus, totum mundum suam possessionem putabat, quem Dominus tuebatur ut opus suum, neque ut bonus parens atque auctor deserebat. Denique eousque creatum fovit, ut abdicatum redimeret, eliminatum reciperet, mortuum passione filii sui unigeniti resuscitaret. Est ergo hominis auctor Deus, et diligit opus suum operator bonus, nec derelinquit bonus pater, quem etiam sicut dives paterfamilias censu propriae haereditatis redemit.
40. Let us therefore be cautious lest that man, namely the mind, that woman, namely the passion of our senses, by pleasure and herself deceived and deluded, weaken and draw us away into her own laws and opinion. Let us flee pleasure like a serpent, it has many tricks and especially in man. For other animals are caught by the desire for food; but when man has more senses, namely of the eyes and ears, the dangers are even greater. Therefore, be careful that the strength of your mind is not softened by a certain indulgence of bodily pleasure, and dissolved in all its embraces, and that its fountain is opened, which should be closed and sealed by the study of intention and the consideration of reason: for the garden is closed, the fountain is sealed. For when the sense of the mind is loosened, harmful bodily pleasures flow out excessively, and they flow into a desire full of serious danger; which, if it had remained under the vigilant protection of the lively mind, it would have restrained.
41. (Vers. 3, 4.) Your emissions, he says, are a paradise of evil of pomegranates with the fruit of apples, of Cyprus with spikenard, of nard and saffron, of pipe and cinnamon with all the woods of Lebanon, of myrrh and aloes with all the first ointments. The gifts of the soul that are sent by the Bridegroom are praised, with which she, when endowed, came (but to God, pious souls are good odors), myrrh, aloes, saffron, and other things, with which the grace of gardens breathes, and the stench of sins is blotted out. And so, free from worry, the south wind seeks to dispel the heavy north wind, so as not to scatter the flowers: the south wind breathes, that is, as if passing by winter, and brings a milder breath of spring. The Bridegroom is invited into His garden, the Bridegroom descends, and delighted by the variety of its fruits, rejoices that He has found a stronger food, and has also found a sweeter one. For He is like a certain bread of the Word and honey, another more vehement, another more persuasive speech. And there is another faith, more fervent like wine; another, clearer like the juice of milk. Christ feasts on this food in us, drinks from this cup, and His drinking intoxicates us, so that we might surpass lower things and strive for what is better and best.
The soul, hearing these things, drinks in the intoxication of celestial mysteries, and, as if lulled to sleep by wine, and placed in a state of ecstasy or stupor, says: I sleep, and my heart is awake (Song of Songs 5:2). Then, struck by the light of the present Word, it is awakened by the Word. This is the fourth process of the soul. For at first, impatient of love and unable to bear the delays of the Word, it asked to be kissed, and deserved to see its desire. After being introduced into the king's chamber for the second time and engaging in mutual conversation, she rested in his shadow and suddenly the Word departed from her midst. However, it did not remain far away for long, but came leaping over the mountains and skipping over the hills. Not long after, like a young deer or a fawn, while addressing his beloved, it leapt up and left. For the third time, when it could not be found in the bedroom and during the nights, in the city and in the marketplace, it called back the one seeking it with its prayers, so much so that it was even called closer by its betrothed. While she herself is already asleep, she is awakened by Him, although she was watchful in her heart; so that she immediately hears the voice of the one knocking: but after enduring a delay while He rises (because she could not comprehend the speed of the Word), while He opens the door, the Word passes through, and she herself goes out in His Word: and through wounds searched for, but wounds of love, she finally finds and holds, so that she would not lose afterwards. In summary, I have explained these things in a concise manner, now let us discuss each individual one.
43. (Verse 15.) The fountain of gardens, the well of living waters, which flow impetuously from Lebanon. You have these in Solomon, because his Proverbs are moral, Ecclesiastes is natural, in which he despises the vanities of this world: his Songs of Songs are mystical. You also have them in the prophet: Sow for yourselves righteousness, reap the fruit of life, enlighten yourselves with the light of knowledge (Hosea 10:12); for this is the light of knowledge, to have the perfection of charity. Therefore it is said: Fear not (John 12:15); for charity casts out fear.
44. However, in order that we may understand that Solomon so interpreted these three wells, which Jacob dug, as to apply them to moral doctrine and natural and mystical [doctrine], he placed these wells in each of his books, which he wrote about moral, natural, or mystical matters. For even in Proverbs, when he discussed the need to avoid the appearance of secular pleasures, he said: 'Drink water from your own vessels, and from the fountains of your wells, and let your waters flow forth from your own fountain' (Prov. 5:15). And below: May the fountain of your water be your own, and rejoice with the wife who is from your youth (Ibid., 18); because true wisdom is a remedy against the temptations of the world. Moral doctrine also washes away the image of worldly pleasure, which is tainted with certain harlotry, with its flowing fountain and cleanses it.
45. In Ecclesiastes, you also have this about natural things: I made for myself pools of water in order to irrigate a grove shooting up through these (Eccl. 2:6). Do not be surprised that he called the pools a well, since even Moses referred to a well as wide; because the person who transcends this world with a devout mind is set free from all narrowness and anxiety. Therefore, the Preacher rightly has pools, since he saw that there is no abundance under the sun; but if anyone wants to abound, let them abound in Christ.
46. We have left the topic of mysteries and move on to the well, which we also find mentioned in the Song of Songs, as Scripture says: 'A fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and flowing streams from Lebanon.' If you seek the depth of mysteries, the well appears to you as if mystical wisdom is situated in the deep: but if you wish to draw from the abundance of charity, which is greater and more plentiful than faith and hope, then the fountain is for you. For charity overflows, so that you can both drink it in up close, and water your garden with its abundant fruits overflowing with spiritual blessings. And since he himself is a well of breadth, whoever possesses charity; therefore he said, where there is charity, there the great impulse descends from Lebanon.
47. But let nothing move you, that he called both the well and the fountain the same thing; let the Gospel also instruct you, in which it is written: “Now Jesus came to a city of Samaria, which is called Sichar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph” (John 4:5-6). Now there was Jacob’s well there. And tired, he said, he was sitting thus on the well. Hence, we also know that this well is referred to the mystical doctrine, because there Samaritan woman, that is, the guardian (but guardian of heavenly precepts) drew divine mysteries from that well, knowing that God is spirit, and is not to be worshipped in a place, but in spirit: and that the Messiah has come, who is Christ. Having heard these things, that woman who bears the appearance of the Church, recognized and believed the sacraments of the Law.
48. The fountain of gardens, the well of living waters, and the descending impetus from Lebanon. With these impetuses the Church was led from Lebanon, with this impetus sins are washed away, with this impetus the pure fountain of the Holy Spirit came from Lebanon to the Bride, and from the beginning of faith it passed through the ages, and it passed into the kingdom. To some, it is a fountain, to others a well according to our spiritual capacity: to some a closed garden, a sealed fountain, to others a fountain of gardens, which is reckoned in the Church's endowment: to others, the impetus descending from Lebanon, and the great impetus that never fails. For neither do the breasts fail from the rock, nor the snow from Lebanon, nor the water which is carried by a strong wind to the virgin of Jerusalem.
The impulse descended from Lebanon when the apostles and many believers were gathered together, and suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a mighty wind, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, who gave them the gift of speaking in different languages (Acts 2:1, 3). A good impulse is one that knows not how to harm, but how to fill. Therefore, if anyone desires to earn this impulse of grace that comes from heaven, let them also descend with their eyes into the courses of the waters. Whoever launches this first attack will deserve it. He lowered his eyes to these water channels, which he watered the Lord's feet with tears in the Gospel (Luke 7:38), and therefore he bought the health of his soul and body with the price of his faith, no longer flowing with blood, but with spiritual grace.
50. Therefore, the prophet David descended, and thus brought grace from sin. He descended into the channels of water, that is, he filled them, and he filled the flowing streams of tears with his own tears, or he filled the empty channels of the sun with weeping. Or it shows certain moral meanings of speech, he descended into the channels of water, he passed through them. And we could say, he surpassed them, and he exceeded them: but the power of speech is diminished, by which the greater force of descending abundance is expressed than that of ascending. See, I ask, what benefit words may have, that their prophetic discourse may not lose its momentum, although the very usage of writers has been accustomed to serve the meaning with greater elegance.
51. The well of living waters; for if you draw nothing from a well, it easily corrupts with idle inactivity and degenerate state; but when exercised, it shines with beauty and becomes sweet for drinking. Thus a heap of riches, though sandy in its accumulation, is beautiful in its use, but useless in idleness. So, derive something from this well: for water quenches a burning fire, and almsgiving resists sins (Sirach 3:33). But stagnant water quickly breeds worms: let not your treasure stay stagnant, lest your fire stay stagnant. It will stand against you unless you turn it away by the works of your mercy.
52. (Verse 16.) Arise, north wind, and come, south wind, blow upon my garden, and let its spices flow out. You have heard, O bride of Christ, that the beauty of your virtues pleases him; you have heard that the fragrance of your garments, that is, the good odor of integrity, surpasses all other odors. You have heard that you are a enclosed garden, filled with the fruits of the apple tree. Therefore, seek that the Holy Spirit may blow upon you, may blow above your bed, and may gather the fragrance of a pious mind and spiritual grace. Raise the Holy Spirit, saying: Arise, north wind, and come, south wind; breathe upon my garden, and let its spices flow forth. May my brother come down into his garden, and eat the fruit of his apple tree. The garden of the Word is moved by the affections of a soul in springtime, and in its fruitful trees is the fruit of virtue. Therefore, come, and whether you eat or drink, if you invoke Christ, He is present and says: Come, eat my bread, and drink my wine (Prov. 9:5).
Arise, he says, north wind, and come, south wind; blow upon my garden, and let its spices flow out. From all parts of the world the fragrance of holy religion has spread, by which the limbs of the beloved virgin have become fragrant. Therefore, the Church, keeping the height of heavenly mysteries, rejects the heavier storms of winds and invites the sweetness of blossoming grace; and knowing that its rising cannot displease Christ, it calls upon its Bridegroom: Arise, he says, north wind, and come, south wind. Most people understand this in such a way, as if the north wind is cast away, and the south wind is invited. If they understand it this way, the icy harshness of infidelity is driven out from the Church, so that our flight in winter or on the Sabbath may not happen, and the gentle warmth of spring is invited.
54. Certainly: Arise, O north wind, that is, rise up, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead (Ephes. V, 14). O people of the nations, who have long slept, awake at last, and Christ shall shine upon thee. Lastly, all are invited to the Church, both the people of the Synagogue and the Gentiles: but first the Synagogue, because the first believed from the Jews, and through them afterwards the people of the nations were gathered together. Therefore, behold our sun coming from the south, afterwards turning to the north. Jerusalem, Jerusalem: she came, indeed, to the city which she was even deemed worthy to be called; but this Jerusalem is the earthly one, which killed the prophets, that is, the synagogue of the Jews: How often, he says, have I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks, and you were not willing? Behold, your house will be left vacant (Matt. XXIII, 37 and 38). Therefore, it turned to the Gentiles: and while turning in circles, the Spirit of God turned, and he turned back to his circles, so that God could be all in all.