Chapter 5
1. (Verse 1.) Let my beloved come into my garden, and eat the fruit of his apples. On this account, Plato created for himself that garden, which he called the garden of Jupiter in one place, and the garden of the mind in another place; for he called Jupiter both God and mind. He composed this from the book of Canticles; because the soul, adhering to God, entered into the garden of the mind, in which there was an abundance of various virtues and a profusion of words. Who, however, is ignorant that the abundance of virtues which we think should be transferred from that very Paradise which we read of in Genesis, where it is said that there was also a tree of life and a tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and other trees, should be planted in the garden of the mind?
In the Song of Songs, the garden represents the soul or the soul itself; for it is written: A closed garden, my sister, my bride, a closed garden, a sealed fountain. And further, the soul says: Arise, north wind, and come, south wind; blow upon my garden, let its fragrance be wafted abroad. Let my beloved come to his garden (Song 4:12-13). How beautiful it is that the soul, adorned with the flowers of virtues, is a garden; or that it contains a budding paradise, into which the Word of God invites to come down; so that the soul, watered by the heavenly rain of that Word and irrigated by its abundance, may bear fruit! But the Word of God feeds on the virtues of the soul, whenever it finds a soul obedient to itself and rich: and it enjoys its fruits, and is delighted by them. But when the Word of God descends into it, the healing ointments of words flow from it, emitting far and wide the fragrances of various graces. Hence the Bridegroom says (for the Bridegroom of the soul is the Word of God, to whom the soul is joined by a kind of lawful marriage covenant):
3. (Verse 2.) I entered my garden, my sister, my bride; I harvested my myrrh with my ointments, I ate my bread with my honey, I drank my wine with my milk. Eat, my neighbors, and drink and become drunk, my brothers. I sleep, but my heart is awake. Let us know what fruits or foods God feasts on, or with what he takes delight. He takes delight in it, if anyone mortifies their sin, erases their guilt, buries and abolishes their iniquities; for myrrh is the burial of the dead, and dead are the sins that cannot have the sweetness of life. But they are completed with the ointments of divine discourse, and some wounds of sins are healed with a stronger nourishment of the word, as if with bread, and with a sweeter discourse, as if with honey. Solomon also teaches elsewhere that words are nourishment, saying: Pleasant words are like a honeycomb (Prov. 16:24). Therefore, in that garden there are good words; one that restrains fault, another that rebukes iniquity, another that causes insolence to die and buries it, when someone who is corrected renounces their errors.
There is also a stronger word which strengthens the heart of man with the heavenly nourishment of Scripture. I have eaten honeycomb with my honey, I have drunk my wine with my milk. For this word is sweet like honey, yet it pierces the sinner's conscience with its own sweetness. There is also a word of fervent spirit, which intoxicates like wine and gladdens the heart of man. And finally, there is a milky word, pure and candid. The Bridegroom says to his close ones to feast on these sweet and beneficial words: Eat, my close ones, and drink, and be intoxicated, my brothers. But those who follow him closely and take part in his wedding feast are nearby. They satisfy their souls with food and drink (for each person drinks water from their own vessels and from the wells of their own cisterns) and sleep, awakened to God. And so, just as the later teachings instruct, God requested that the door of his Word be opened to him, so that he might fill it with his own entrance.
Hence those Platonist feasters, hence that nectar made from wine and honey which they called prophetic, hence that sleep was transported, hence that perpetual life which they said their gods enjoyed, for Christ is life. Therefore, his soul was filled with the seeds of such discourse, and itself went forth in the Word: but that soul which comes out of such servitude and is raised above the body follows the Word. Otherwise, let us repeat what was said above (suptcp., chap. 4): My sister, my bride, is a closed garden, a sealed fountain. In this it signifies that the mystery must remain sealed within you, so that it may not be defiled by the works of wicked life and the adulteration of chastity: so that it may not be divulged to those with whom it is not fitting, so that it may not be scattered among the treacherous by garrulous loquacity.
6. Therefore, it is necessary for the good to be the guardian of your faith, so that the integrity of a blameless life and silence may persevere. Thus, the Church, preserving the height of celestial mysteries, rejects more violent storms from itself and invites the sweetness of springtime grace. And knowing that its garden cannot displease Christ, it calls upon the Bridegroom Himself, saying: Arise, O north wind, and come, O south wind: blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out (Song of Solomon 4:16); let my beloved come into his garden, and eat the fruit of his pleasant fruits (Song of Solomon 5:1); for it has good and fruitful trees, and its root that has been dipped in the irrigating water of the sacred font and has sprouted into the good fruits of new fertility. So that now they may not be cut down by the prophetic axe, but may be made fruitful by the abundance of the Gospel. Finally, the Lord, pleased with their fertility, responds:
7. I entered into my garden, my sister, my bride: I harvested my myrrh with my perfumes, I ate my bread with my honey: I drank my drink with my milk. Why I speak of bread and wine, the faithful understand. But it is not doubtful that he himself eats and drinks with us, as you have read in us, because he said he was in prison (Matthew XXV, 36). Therefore the Church, seeing so great a grace, encourages her children, encourages her neighbors, to come together for the sacraments, saying: Eat, my neighbors, and drink, and be intoxicated, my brothers. What we should eat, what we should drink, elsewhere the Holy Spirit expressed to you through the prophet, saying: Taste and see that the Lord is sweet; blessed is the man who hopes in Him (Psalm. XXXIII, 9). In that sacrament is Christ, for it is the body of Christ: therefore, it is not a bodily food, but a spiritual one. Hence the Apostle also says about its type: For our fathers ate the spiritual food and drank the spiritual drink (I Cor. X, 3). For the body of God is a spiritual body, and the body of Christ is the body of the divine spirit; for Christ is a spirit, as we read: The Lord Christ, the spirit, is before our face (Lamentations 4:20). And in the epistle of Peter we have: Christ died for us (1 Peter 2:21). Finally, this food strengthens our heart, and this drink delights the heart of man, as the prophet has mentioned (Psalm 103:25).
8. My sister, my bride, is a closed garden, a closed garden, a sealed fountain. May she not easily open her mouth, nor reveal herself in common conversation; for it is not fitting to speak about divine matters unless prompted by the word of God. What concern is it of yours with others? Speak to Christ alone, converse with Christ alone. For if it is written that women should remain silent in the Church (I Cor. XIV, 34), how much more improper is it for the gate of a virgin to be open, or for the doors of a widow to be open! The tempter quickly attacks modesty, quickly captures a word that you desire to retract. If the door of Eve had been closed, neither would Adam have been deceived, nor would he have responded when questioned by the serpent. Death entered through the window, that is, through Eve's door. Death enters through your door if you speak falsely, if you speak obscenely, if you speak rashly, and finally, if you speak where it is not fitting. Therefore, let the doors of your lips be closed, and let the entrance of your voice remain sealed, perhaps to be opened when you hear the voice of God, when you hear the word of God. Then myrrh will sweat for you, then the grace of baptism will breathe on you, so that you may die with Christ from the elements of the world, and rise again with Christ. What more, he says, do you still judge as if living, concerning this world? Do not touch, do not defile, do not taste the things that bring corruption through their very use (Colossians 2:20 and following).
9. Let my brother descend into his garden, in order to eat the fruit of his fruit-bearing trees. What are these fruit-bearing trees? You were made a dry tree in Adam, but now by the grace of Christ you have become a fruit-bearing tree. Lord Jesus willingly accepted and with heavenly favor responded to his Church: I descended, he said, into my garden, I harvested myrrh with my ointments, I ate my bread with my honey, and I drank my wine with my milk.
10. Edit, he said, my brothers, and get drunk: I have harvested myrrh with my ointments (Psalm. LXXIX, 9). What is this harvest? Know the vineyard, and you will recognize the harvest. The vineyard, he said, you have transferred from Egypt, that is, the people of God. You are the vineyard, you are the harvest: as if a vineyard planted, as if a harvest you have given fruit. I have harvested myrrh with my ointments, that is, for the fragrance that you have received.
11. I have eaten my bread with my honey. You see that in this bread there is no bitterness, but all sweetness. I have drunk my wine with my milk, you see what kind of joy it is, which is not polluted by any stain of sin? For whenever you drink, you receive the forgiveness of sins and are intoxicated with the spirit. Therefore, the Apostle says: Do not be intoxicated with wine . . . but be filled with the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5:18). For the one who is intoxicated with wine staggers and stumbles, but the one who is intoxicated with the spirit is rooted in Christ, and thus this excellent intoxication works sobriety of mind.
12. 'Come on,' he says, 'my friends, eat and drink and get drunk. Good drunkenness makes someone's mind overflow to better and more pleasant things, so that our mind, forgetful of worries, may be cheered by the delight of wine. The spiritual drunkenness of the table is good; in conclusion, how excellent is the intoxicating cup! (Psalm 22:5) And elsewhere: 'You have saturated its streams, multiply its generations.' (Psalm 64:11) because when the drunkenness of the earth has been infused with heavenly rain, it is accustomed to awaken seeds and multiply fruits. So when the Word, which descends from heaven like rain, has inebriated the veins of our earth, that is, our souls and minds, with divine preaching, the studies of various virtues are aroused, and the fruits of faith and pure devotion grow, and rightly it is said to Him: You have visited the earth and have inebriated it (Psalm 64:10). For He visited by receiving the body, in order to heal the sick; He inebriated with spiritual grace, in order to soothe the anxious with joy.
13. I sleep, and my heart keeps watch. The sleep of the saints is also a worker, as it is written: I sleep, and my heart keeps watch. And as the holy Jacob, sleeping, saw the mysteries which he had not seen when awake; he saw the air, stretching from heaven to earth, filled with the saints, looking towards the Lord and promising them the possession of the land. Therefore, sleeping a brief sleep, he obtained what he later acquired with great labor, for the inheritance of the saints is sleep, exempt from all bodily pleasures. from every disturbance of the mind, bringing tranquility to the soul, calmness to the spirit; so that, as if freed from the bondage of the body, it may cleave to Christ. This is the sleep of the saints.
14. The voice of my beloved knocking, open to me, my sister. And if you are sleeping, and if now Christ knows the devotion of your soul, he comes and knocks at its door, and says: Open to me, my sister. Good sister, for the spiritual marriage is of the Word and the soul; for souls do not know the obligations of marriage, nor the physical union, but they are like the angels of God in heaven. Open, he says, to me, but close to strangers. Close to the world, close to the earthly. Neither do you go outside to those material things, nor leave your own light, seeking what is foreign; for material light casts a dark shadow, so that the light of true glory is not seen. Therefore, open to me, do not be confined, but expand yourself, and I will fill you. And because I have found more troubles and stumbling blocks after traveling around the world, and I did not easily find a place to rest; therefore, you open up, so that the Son of Man may rest his head in you, for he finds no rest except upon the humble and meek.
15. Open to me, my sister, rise, my dearest, my dove, my perfect one. Near in love, dove in simplicity, perfect in virtue. For my head is full of dew; just as the dew of heaven removes the dryness of the night, so the dew of our Lord Jesus Christ has dripped moisture onto the nocturnal and worldly darkness of eternal life. This is the head that the heat of the world did not know how to dry up, wherefore it says: For if they do these things when the wood is green, what will they do when it is dry? (Luke 23:31) Therefore, this head drips on others, it abounds in itself. And the head of Christ also abounds well; for Christ is your head, who is always full, and is not depleted by his own generosity, nor does he lack in lasting abundance. Into this head does not enter iron, which is a tool of war, a symbol of discord. Now observe, and see what kind of dew it is, namely not of ordinary moisture.
16. However, my darling, do not accept the curls of bodily hair: they are not ornaments, but rather sins: the enticements of beauty, not the teachings of virtue. Nazaraeus has other curls, in which iron does not enter, and which no one cuts: they are not arranged with curling irons or artfully styled, but rather shine forth with the grace of multiple virtues. Learn from history what kind of curls Nazaraeus has, which as long as Samson had them intact, he could never be defeated. He lost his hairs and the reward of his virtue.
17. (Verse 3.) Therefore, having heard the voice of the Word, which you have stripped of your tunic during the night, do not inquire how you will put it on again; for it is shown and frequently offered through spiritual wickedness how, I say, you will put it on, not remembering and not knowing; as if the Lord were already present, rise up without the bonds of the flesh being an obstacle, and with disturbed mind prepare your inner self through prayers, while you rise up; so that from humble things you may strive for heavenly things, and strive to open the doors of your heart. While you reach out your hands to Christ, your faithful deeds will emit a sweet scent.
18. Open to me, my sister. When you desire to meet someone of noble birth, first approach his house, then seek to be informed and instructed, so that you may know the mind of the head of the household. Then, enter his house, plead that no one may reject or exclude you. Therefore, knock on that heavenly palace, knock not with the hand of the body, but with the power of your prayer. The hand of the body alone does not knock, the voice also knocks; for it is written: The voice of my brother knocks at the door. We knock with a finger. Finally, even Thomas deserved to open the door of the resurrection with a finger: and Jesus says to you: Put your finger here and put it in my hands and my side, and do not be unbelieving, but faithful (John 20:27). Therefore, knock with a finger, if you cannot with the whole hand, knock the door. Christ is the door who says: If anyone enters through me, he will be saved (John 10:9).
19. When you have knocked on this door, see how you enter; lest, having entered, you be out of sight of the king. Many enter palaces and do not immediately see that king of the land, but often they observe so that they may deserve to see him. They do not presume to have the opportunity to see, but they are presented by command and offer a prayer, so that they may be received with kindness, avoiding stumbling at the first entrance of their speech; may they stumble upon nothing, may they offend nothing: how much more must God be asked, so that our prayer may enter the door of his mercy!
The voice of my brother knocks at the door. Learn also to guard your door, O bride of Christ, during the night hours, lest anyone easily find it open. The bridegroom himself desires it to be closed when he knocks. Our door is our mouth, it should be opened almost exclusively for Christ, and should not be opened unless the Word of God has knocked first. The voice of my brother knocks at the door. Listen to the one knocking, listen to the one desiring to enter.
21. (Verse 2.) Open to me, my sister, my bride, my dove, my perfect one; for my head is filled with dew, and my locks with the drops of the night. Consider when God the Word knocks most eagerly at your door, when his head is filled with the nightly dew. He is pleased to visit those who are in distress and temptation, lest anyone be overcome by afflictions. Therefore, his head is filled with dew or drops, when his body is in labor. Therefore, you must be watchful, so that when the Bridegroom comes, he does not depart excluded. For if you sleep and your heart does not keep watch, he departs before knocking; but if your heart keeps watch, he knocks and asks for the door to be opened to him.
Therefore, we have the gate of our souls, and we also have gates of which it is said: Lift up your gates, O princes, and be lifted up, O eternal gates, and the King of glory will enter (Psalm 24:7). So there is also heaven in those in which there are eternal gates. If you want to lift up these gates of your faith, the King of glory will enter to you, carrying the triumph of his own passion. For righteousness also has gates, for we also read about them, with the Lord Jesus speaking through his prophet: Open to me the gates of righteousness (Psalm 118:19). And below, the prophet David says: Praise, O Jerusalem, the Lord; praise your God, O Zion; for he has strengthened the bars of your gates.
23. Therefore, there is a soul that has a door, there is that which has gates. To this door comes Christ, and knocks: he knocks even at the gates. Open therefore to him, he wants to enter, he wants to find the vigilant Bride. Do not make delays for this good lover, he quickly departs: and you seem to have shut out the one knocking while in the sleep of your body. For you shut him out when you are lazy, when you are sluggish, when you are drowsy. With these barriers, Christ is shut out: if you are chaste and sober, be careful not to be neglectful. He does a great injustice to Christ who repels him as he comes.
Open to me, my sister, my nearest one: knock at the door even when you are sleeping: yet if either awakened, you stay awake, or if called, you open the door of your breast, he will enter. But if you flee from the prophetic reading, if you do not read at home, if you are unwilling to hear in the Church, will you not close your eyes like that person who, with averted glance, closes them so as not to see what he can see, to whom the power of seeing belongs: or like most people who, in anger, place their hands over their eyes; so also will you turn away at first from the winking one, more with dissimulation than with a broken refusal. For when you come to the Church and assert that you are a Christian, you seem to be sane, you open the eyes with which you can see: but while you pretend not to hear what is read, you close your eyes so that you may not see for yourself, and so that you may seem to see to others. You also bring the hands of perfidy and intemperance to the eyes of your soul, and you willingly bring blindness to your heart (which is worse); so that, even though you see, you do not see, and even though you hear, you do not hear.
25. Do you think that you are the only one who engages in prostitution and does not remember that the eyes of the Lord see the whole world? Do you not hear the one who says: Behold, the hour is coming when you will be scattered, each to his own, and you will leave me alone. But I am not alone, because the Father is with me (John 16:32). Therefore, the Father is present, the Son of God is present, the ministers are present, the Cherubim and Seraphim are present, who say: Holy, holy, holy, the whole earth is full of your glory (Isaiah 6). For the world is full of virtues, because it is full of vices: the earth is full of remedies, because it is full of snares.
26. (Verse 3.) I have taken off my tunic, how shall I put it on again? Indeed, in this night of the world, the clothing of physical life must first be taken off for you; for the Lord has taken off his flesh, that he may triumph for you over the dominions and powers of this world. How shall I put it on again? See, devoted soul of God, what it says. Thus, he has taken off the actions of the body and earthly customs, so that he may not know how, even if he wishes, to put them on again. How shall I put it on again? What is this but shame, but modesty, but finally memory? For the custom of goodness has lost the practice of ancient corruption.
27. Hearing this, the soul, having a head full of dew, that is, troubled suddenly by secular temptations and as if about to rise, which it was commanded to rise, says while smelling aloes and remarkable myrrh of the burial: 'Shall I take off my tunic, how will I put it on again? I have washed my feet, how will I defile them? For she fears lest she rise again into temptations, return again into fault and sin, and start to defile her goings-out and the progress of her virtues with earthly footprints.'
Certainly in this way it also indicates the perfection of his virtue, which has deserved such great charity from Christ; that he may come to it, and knock on his door, and come with the Father, and dine with the same soul, and she with him, as John the Apostle said in the Apocalypse (Rev. III, 20). For when he heard in the previous passages: Come here from Lebanon; and when he realized that he could not be present to Christ in the flesh, but that he would be present if he were present in spirit, conforming himself to his will, so that she would also be similar to the image of Christ; she no longer feels the skins of the flesh, now as if a spirit shedding itself of the conjunction of the body, now as if forgotten, and she cannot remember the union if she wishes to, she said: I have taken off my garment, how will I put it on again? For they had on that tunic of skin, which Adam and Eve received after their sin, the tunic of corruption, the tunic of passions; How shall I put it on? It does not require to put it on: but it signifies being cast off, so that it could no longer be itself a garment.
29. (Verse 3.) I washed my feet, how shall I defile them? That is, I washed my footsteps, as I left and raised myself from the company of the body, from that connection and familiarity of carnal embrace: how shall I defile them, so that I return to the closed prison of the body and its dark cell of passions? Thus we bury the passions, if we do not dissolve the cross of this body; if we do not rewrite the cancelled handwriting of sin on the cross of Christ, if we do not put on the garment of the old man that we have taken off. For it is written in the Song of Songs: 'I have taken off my tunic, how shall I put it on again? I have washed my feet, how shall I defile them?' Therefore, the members of the body are mortified, why do its vices sprout? Therefore, the law did not prevail, because it did not mortify the flesh: therefore, it passed by like a shadow, because it did not change its color: and therefore, it overshadowed us from the sun of justice, because it heaped up sins.
30. Sometimes being naked is a sign of virtue, as it is written: 'I have taken off my tunic, how shall I put it on again? I have washed my feet, how shall I defile them?' Therefore, if we can find in the Scriptures how one should take off a tunic and not find how to put it on again, let us reveal it. For there is a certain bodily tunic, and there are certain coverings woven with desires; and therefore, sometimes it is better to be naked in body than veiled in heart. Thus, even Paul admonishes us to strip off and discards the old man with his deeds, and put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge, according to the image of Him who created him. Therefore, the one who has been stripped and has washed feet does not know how they cannot be contaminated; for they forget, through grace, what they had acquired through nature.
31. I washed my feet, how will I defile them? You have learned in the Gospel that washing feet is a symbol of the mystery of faith and a sign of humility, as it is written: 'If I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another's feet' (John 13:14)! But this pertains to humility. However, as for the mystery, it is necessary for one to wash their own feet if they desire to share in Christ: 'If I do not wash you, you have no part in me' (Ibid. 8). When this is said to Peter, what is thought of us? Therefore, whoever has washed their feet does not need to wash them again; and therefore, they should be careful not to dirty them.
32. And the holy Church rightly says: I have washed my feet; it does not say: how shall I again wash them, but how shall I again defile them? As if forgetting the old stain, forgetting the contagion, it remind us how we should wash away the trace of our actions in bodily ministry in a spiritual way. Therefore, when you have once washed your feet in the waters of the eternal fountain, and have been cleansed by the sacrament of the mystery, beware of again polluting them with the filth of carnal desires, lest your muddy actions be defiled by earthly impurities. These are the feet that David bathed in the Spirit, which teach you how you cannot defile them, saying: Our feet were standing in your courts, O Jerusalem (Psalm 122:2). Surely, understand here not the feet of the body, but of the soul; for how could an earthly man have feet of the body in heaven? O Jerusalem, as Paul has taught you, is in heaven; and he has also taught you how you can stand in heaven, when he says: But our conversation is in heaven (Philippians 3:20). Conversation of morals, conversation of actions, conversation of faith.
33. I have done judgment and justice, do not deliver me to those who calumniate me. Where there is justice, there is mercy. Mercy frees from sin. Therefore, how am I delivered to sinners? It is similar to that in the Song of Songs: I have put off my tunic, how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet, how shall I defile them? I have put off the tunic of the sinner, the covering of the earthly; why am I judged as if I were a sinner and earthly? I have washed my feet, so that no lot of sin could adhere to the footprints; why do you give power to the transgressors over me?
Jeremiah says in his Lamentations: Your iniquity has failed, O daughter of Zion, you will not be expelled anymore; he has visited your iniquities, O daughter of Edom, he has revealed your sins (Lam. IV, 21). Recognize that iniquity cannot fail without the visitation of God, nor can correction be complete without the grace of the Lord and Savior. But how does iniquity fail? Listen to the Church saying: I have taken off my tunic, how will I put it on again? I wash my feet, how shall I defile them? Therefore, the old man's garment woven with the vices of error, deposited in the regeneration of the bath, does not know how it can be put on; for in the striving for correction, it has fostered forgetfulness of sins. Such is the power of complete amendment, that it returns to a certain spiritual childhood, which is ignorant of the ways of error; even if it desires crime, it cannot commit it; for it has become unaccustomed to knowing how to sin.
35. (Verse 4.) My brother reached out his hand from the window, and my stomach was troubled for him. I arose to open to my brother. My hands dripped with myrrh, my fingers were full of myrrh. Therefore, as if from a window, he reaches out his hand first, when God is judged by his works, where it says: If you do not believe me, believe the works (John 10:38). Then love increases, and the conception grows within the innermost parts. Hence, our soul desires to draw in the fullness of the Word, who inhabits the intelligible womb, in which is the receptacle of the Word, with His seeds infused. For the womb of women is not troubled, unless they are heavy with child. Therefore, the soul rises up in order to open to the Word of God, but while it expands and opens itself, it mortifies the works of this world by receiving that Word, just as he who says: We bear about in our body the dying of the Lord Jesus (II Cor. IV, 19). Therefore, while she is opening, the Bridegroom passes by; for he always wants to be sought, more often found. And if he finds a closed door, he knocks; and if he is excluded for a delay, he departs; but he quickly returns, he knocks again, so that he may find his prepared Bride thereafter.
Indeed, it can be understood in this way: My brother has passed away, just as we read that he penetrated the innermost depths of his beloved, as it was said to Mary: 'And a sword will pierce through your own soul also.' (Luke 2:35). Finally, the Bride added that her soul departed in his word, which happens when the soul journeys without the body and is present with God. Hearing this, the Bridegroom sent his operation, the Word, as if through a cave, not yet face to face: he sent it as a hand, and said, 'My bowels were troubled upon him.' Whoever lives like this can say:
37. My brother reached out his hand through the window, and my stomach was disturbed by him. I got up to open for my brother. It is good that at the Lord's coming our inner selves are disturbed. If Mary was troubled at the angel's coming, how much more are we troubled at the coming of Christ! Indeed, with the divine influence flowing in, our earthly affections wander, and that outer use of man fades away. So you, be troubled, be quick. Those who are quick are commanded to eat the lamb. Rise, open, Christ is at the door, knocking at the door of your house: If you open, He will enter, and He will enter with the Father. Not only when He enters does He leave a reward: but even before He enters, He sends a reward. Still the soul is disturbed, still it feels the walls of its house, still it searches for the door where Christ is, still it loosens the bond of flesh and the prison of the body, still Christ knocks outside.
38. What is our window, if not through which we see the works of Christ, namely the eye of the soul and mind? And therefore, virgin, let Christ enter through your window, let Christ extend His hand: let the Word of God come to you through the window, not the love of the body. Therefore, if the Word of God extends His hand through your window, see how you should prepare your windows, see how you should cleanse them from all the dust of sins. Let the windows of the virgin have nothing filthy, nothing adulterated. Far away is the lead and other affected trappings of beauty, far away are the allurements of adulterated love. It is like the closing of ears, with which burdens are not to be suspended, wounds are not to be inflicted, but it is one adornment, to hear what is profitable.
39. (Verse 6.) I opened, he says, to my brother; my brother passed through. How he passed through, that is, he penetrated the innermost part of the mind, as it was said to Mary: And a sword will pierce through your own soul also. For the living Word of God, like a sharp sword, penetrating the barriers of bodily thoughts, probes the innermost thoughts of the heart. Therefore, in your bed and at the appointed time of night, always contemplate Christ, and await his coming at every moment. If you think it is late, arise. It seems late when you sleep for a long time; it seems late when you are idle from prayer; it seems late when you do not rouse your voice with psalms. Offer the first fruits of your vigils to Christ; sacrifice the first fruits of your actions to Christ.
40. (Vers. 5.) I arose to open to my brother; my hands dripped with myrrh, and my fingers with liquid myrrh, upon the handles of the bolt. Let us consider what this signifies. First, it seems that God, as I have said, comes to his works as if through a cave, not fully and perfectly: then love increases and conception grows, and from the seeds that the soul, received as it were into a certain intelligible womb, has conceived, it desires to see the whole fullness of his divinity dwelling in him bodily, as we read. He rose in order to see the Word of God more closely, and in this very act, his resurrection is signified, for he rose with strength and power; for the presence of the Word drew strength from his soul, just as the presence of Mary, when she was pregnant, enlightened John who was formed in the womb: so that he leaped in the womb and rejoiced, recognizing the presence of the Lord.
41. The wild boar arose to open, and his works and deeds were mortified to the world. For such ought to be the soul, which is to receive the Word, that it may die to the world, and be buried in Christ; for thus Christ is found, and seeks such a dwelling for Himself. Then the very ministries of operations, that is, the hands and fingers, by which Christ is apprehended, are mortified: these fingers we can estimate as the prominence of our deeds. Therefore, just as he extended his intelligible hands and fingers to grasp the Word, he says that the Word passed through him, but not yet through the devout soul. And this process occurs when the Word of God passes through and beyond the soul, for it is written: And a sword will pierce through your own soul, so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed (Luke 2:35). Thus, it is still being passed through, not yet pierced through, as it were, in Mary it might have been pierced through in her posterior parts, where the Lord Jesus is placed as a seal in her midst.
42. Finally, immediately another one departed, the soul having left in the Word; that is, his Word having followed, went out of the body, lifting itself up from its dwelling, and making itself a stranger to it, so as to be present with God, and to be a citizen of the saints. For at the same time we cannot be both servants of the flesh and of God. Therefore, in this place, the soul is said to go out, as I said, when it withdraws itself from the pleasures of the body. Finally, it is written: Go out of Babylon, flee from the Chaldeans (Isaiah 48:20). Not so much that the Hebrew flees from the regions of Babylon, but the customs, as is admonished by the prophetic discourse: since there may be Hebrews who are in Babylon, and who teach that they have left Babylon's customs. For those about whom the prophet speaks, that they were sitting by the rivers of Babylon (Ps. CXXXVI, 1), they were indeed sitting in the region of Babylon, but they were not partaking in its vices and confusion. For how could they be in that confusion of vices, those who were weeping and repenting for having fallen away from the ark of devotion and faith, and the merits of paternal virtue? But what the soul seeks in the word, it requires the Word; hence, while it sought those things, it fell into the guardians who patrol the city.
43. The guards who surround the city found me, they struck me, and wounded me, and took my cloak from me, the guards of the walls. Indeed, like a bride coming with a cloak, with which she would cover her head when the bridegroom approached; just as Rebecca, who, knowing that Isaac was coming to meet her, descended from the camel and covered herself with a cloak: so also this soul, sent ahead the insignia of the wedding garment, lest it be rejected as if it did not have a wedding garment; or to veil her head because of the angels. But they struck her, so that she might be tested further; for souls are exercised by temptations. They took her cloak, seeking whether she brought the true beauty of naked virtue, or because no one should enter that celestial city without clothing, carrying with them no covering of hypocrisies. There are also those who ask that no soul should bring with it the remains of carnal allurements and bodily desires. She is stripped of her cloak, when her conscience is revealed. But it is she who is well stripped, who can imitate him saying: For the ruler of this world is coming, and he has nothing in me (John 14:30); for certainly in him alone does he find nothing, who has not committed sin.
44. Blessed is she in whom she does not find burdens or many things, but finds in her the garment of faith and the discipline of wisdom. Therefore, without any loss to herself (for even if someone wants to, they cannot take away true wisdom), even if the adversary objects; where, however, the integrity of true harmless conversation shines forth, she passes by the guardians, and being mingled with the daughters of that heavenly city, she seeks the Word; and by seeking him within herself, she stirs up love, and where she seeks the Word, she recognizes. It is not only a harm to not find whom you seek, but often it is a wound to search where it is not appropriate: to search in the houses of men who falsely assume the title of learned, to search with more audacity than modesty. Therefore, let us beware of the example of that person, lest we find ourselves being the guards who roam around the city.
45. They found, he says, the guards who go around the city: they struck and wounded me, and the guards of the walls took my cloak from me. Not in herself, daughter, but in us is the Church wounded. Let us therefore beware that our fall does not become a wound to the Church, lest anyone take the cloak from us, that is, the garment of prudence, the badge of patience, by which the ambition of the softer ones is cast off: For those who are clothed in softer garments are in the homes of kings (Matthew 11:8). But to us, Christ gave a cloak, with which he clothed his apostles and his own body, which he finally commands you to give, if someone asks you for a tunic, that you may give it to him and the cloak as well (Matthew 5:40); that is, you should hand over the symbol of your philosophy and, as if with the clothing of your wisdom, clothe him who was previously naked.
Therefore, daughters, let us seek Christ where the Church seeks Him, among the mountains of sweet fragrance, which, with their lofty height, exhale the sweet scent of life from the peaks of merits. That which seeks Christ should not be common, should not be in the marketplace, not in the streets, with a complaining voice, a slippery step, easily accessible, and cheap in appearance. The Apostle denies you earthly companionship and teaches you to fly towards heaven with spiritual wings, almost beyond the limits of nature. He says, “Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth” (Colossians 3:2). But because this was impossible for those confined in the prison of the body, and because when bodies have died, the soul is carried away to fly to the higher things, bound as long as we live by a certain law of our nature, therefore He added: “For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God” (Ibid., 3). If it is hidden with Christ in God, it does not appear to the world, for Christ has died to the world and lives for God. Now see how Christ, whom I desire, does not desire conversations. That virgin opened her doors to the Word of God: but he passed by, she said, and my soul went out in his word (Verse 6). He went out from the world, he went out from the age, he remained in Christ. I sought him, she said, and I did not find him. For Christ loves to be sought for a long time.
They found that city without guardians of the walls. Perhaps there are other guardians that we should understand better. For it is a city that does not have closed gates of the walls, of which it is said: 'And its gates shall not be closed by day' (Apoc. 21:25); for there shall be no more night in it. The nations shall bring their glory and honor into it. Therefore, that city is Jerusalem, which is in heaven, within which you are now being kept, as though already perfect and immaculate; for not all common people enter into it. Common chastity is not, common modesty is not, which is written in the book of life.
48. Therefore, if we find a city, let us enter into it, let us see its light, let us see its walls, let us see its wall foundations, let us even see the guardians of the walls. But how shall we enter into it? In this city is life, and there is only one way that leads to life. Therefore, the way is Christ, so let us follow Christ. But the city itself is in heaven; so how then shall we ascend to heaven? The Evangelist teaches us, who says: And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven (Rev. 21:10). Let us ascend therefore by the Spirit, because the flesh cannot ascend to it. Let us meanwhile ascend to heaven, so that afterwards she may descend to us from heaven, in which there is a light like that of a precious stone, which has a great and high wall, like that of jasper and crystal.
You have learned the light, you have learned the wall; learn the gates, learn the guards. It has, he says, twelve gates, and in the gates are twelve angels, on which the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel are written (Ibid., 12). In the gates are the names of the patriarchs, in the wall the names of the apostles; for the foundations of the city, the apostles, and the cornerstone is Christ, on which the whole structure arises. God is outside, God is inside, God is everywhere: For the city has the majesty of God (Ibid., 11). Therefore, you holy virgins and all who are righteous and bear the immaculate chastity of the soul, you are citizens of the saints and household of God. But then you will possess this nobility of the homeland, if you seek Christ within the walls of this city, entering through faith and precious deeds, enlightened by the brilliance of the patriarchs, founded upon the apostles, living among the angels.
50. How, then, are these watchful angels who remove the cloak from chaste souls? The cloak of virgins is different from that of young women in the marketplace. She who seeks Christ in the marketplace has also lost the cloak that she had. For prudence is possessed not in the marketplace, not in the streets, but in the Church. And perhaps so that we may also find favor with them, and teach that God is merciful to all; because even they will sometimes find Christ, if they continually seek, and this cloak is the covering of the body. Therefore, whoever seeks Christ in bed, if indeed he seeks Him thus, just as He who said: 'Thus I have remembered you on my bed' (Ps. 62:7); if he seeks Him in the nights, according to what is written: 'In the nights, lift up your hands to the holy place' (Ps. 132:2); if he seeks Him in the city, in the forum and in the streets, in the city of our God: perhaps in the forum, where that judge of divine law sits, in the streets from where those who gathered for the Lord's Supper were collected; it is possible for him to encounter the angels guarding the city of God, when he seeks for a long time. Moreover, from the celestial nature of the guardians, we can understand the celestial city, the celestial forum of eternal justice, not the ordinary streets, but perhaps those where that abundant fountain is accustomed to overflow, of which it is written: Let your springs overflow with water, and let your water be dispersed in your streets (Prov. 5:16). Therefore, whoever seeks Christ in this way, arrives at the angels.
51. But if one reaches the angels through good merits, why is one wounded when one has reached them? There is also a good sword, whose good lies in its ability to wound. It wounds the word of God, but does not cause ulcers. There is a wound of good love, there are wounds of charity; therefore it is said: I am wounded with love (Song of Songs 2:5). She who is perfect is wounded with charity. Therefore, the wounds of the Word are good, the wounds of the lover are good: For the wounds of a friend are more beneficial than the voluntary kisses of an enemy (Proverbs 27:6). Rebecca, wounded in love, left her parents and migrated to her betrothed. Rachel, wounded in love, who was jealous of her sister, loved her husband; for her sister, who had many children, she herself, still childless, envied, because she symbolized the Church, to which it is said: Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear; break forth and shout, you who are not in labor! (Isaiah 54:1).
52. So the guards found her and wounded her, and took her cloak, that is, they removed the physical covering, so that the naked simplicity of her mind might seek Christ; for no one can see Christ dressed in the clothing of philosophy, that is, in the habit of worldly wisdom. And it is rightly removed from her, the clothing of philosophy, so that no one may plunder her through philosophy. It is rightly removed from her, the cloak, which approaches Christ, in order to see God, may walk with a pure heart in the world: Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God (Matthew 5:8). Finally, when the heart is cleansed, it finds the Word, it beholds God. Therefore, seek Him, virgin, indeed let us all seek Him; for the soul has no gender. But perhaps it has received a feminine name because a more violent surge of the body affects her: yet she soothes the force of her flesh and her own love with a gentle and tender reason. Therefore, we must invite God with prayers and entreaties, so that He may deign to breathe upon us like a gentle breeze. And may the breath of the heavenly Word aspire to us: may it be accustomed to shake fruitful trees not with a heavy wind but with a soft and gentle breath.
53. They took away my cloak. A good garment is the everlasting life, and this cloak the keepers of the walls wanted to take away from the Bride, with which the first man was stripped; but the soul, devoted to God, sought it for a long time, holding it and not letting go of it, and clothed itself with the precious garment of divine love. Blessed, therefore, are those who are clothed with such a cloak, and have deserved to be clothed with such a garment by observing the law; for they have not forgotten the law, but have fulfilled what the law required.
54. (Verse 8.) I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem, if you find my beloved, tell him that I am lovesick. But what is this languishing of the soul? The moral of the ancient story reminds us that we must remember the story of the holy Moses, who begged God to show Himself to him and to see Him face to face. The holy prophet of the Lord knew, of course, that he could not see the invisible God face to face. But holy devotion surpasses measure, and he believed that this, too, was possible for God, to make the incorporeal be comprehended by bodily eyes. This error is not blameworthy, but rather a delightful and insatiable desire to hold his Lord as if by hand, and to see him with the gaze of his eyes. For he knew that man was made in the image and likeness of God; for when he was chosen by the Lord God to deliver his people, he was filled with the spirit of wisdom, he saw that angel, and his face in glory, and, finally, he was awestruck by the shining of his light, and he saw the burning bush and it not being consumed. He began to see a brightness, which, amazed, he approached; provoked by desire and grace, so that he might more diligently consider that brightness in the bush. Therefore, if he received so much ardor, he underwent so much desire, when he saw an angel in the flame of fire from the bush, so that although seized by fear, he did not dare to consider, nevertheless, he wanted to consider: how much more did he desire to physically see the face of the Lord, saying within himself: that face full of light, full of grace, full of virtue, full of divinity, what shall I say it is? I cannot say or feel more about God; for when man has finished, then he begins; and when he has ended, then he will be perplexed, as it is written, because the eternal majesty of God is incomprehensible (Eccles. 18:6).
Indeed, the effect of the request was in vain, but the likely emotion of the servant; because beyond his nature he estimated the devotion of the Lord's angels, as much as he desired more from the face of the Lord, so that he could fulfill his desire. He knew in himself another glory that would come after death, another brightness: Just as one star differs from another in brightness, so does the resurrection of the dead; and even if it is sown in corruption, it will rise in incorruption, it will rise in glory, it will rise in power, it will rise as a spiritual body (I Cor. XV, 41-44). Therefore, whoever could know these things, presumed rightly that he desired to see the face of the Lord, since he was going to see it after the death of the body. He had certainly taken on such a form, and the Lord had already approved of it, so that he did not differ from the ministering angels and the executor of the oracle of heaven. And therefore, since he knew that the angels of little ones daily see the face of the Father who is in heaven (Matt. XVIII, 10), he thought that he could and should now see it, as if he had forgotten his body and put aside his flesh; just like the one who, while still in the body, when he was caught up to paradise, said that he did not know whether he was caught up in the body or outside of the body to the third heaven (II Cor. XII, 3). For even though the saints bear a body, they are not in the flesh, but in the spirit; because those who are in lust and carnal behavior cannot please God. But the saints are not in the flesh by their behavior, but in heaven.
56. Therefore, let us grasp the condition of the weak bride from these things. To see the face of God as though innocent, as if by a certain face of consciousness, desired to open the face of the inner mind and wanted to be known more fully. Impatient love, knocking at the doors of harlots day and night, if the desires of possession are delayed for a long time, it fails in its expectation while hoping: in which, truly, there is not an end to love but an increase. And whatever is desirable, if it does not happen to the one desiring it, it fails in that thing and, as it were, gives up the very soul that desires it; if, however, a closer hope arises, it gives strength to the next hope; but if the beloved is absent, by the very fact that she desires the absent one, she suffers the defection of her own soul that she desired. Therefore, the further away the desired thing is, the more the person who desires it lacks. Thus, it is a lack to migrate with one's whole effort towards one thing that one loves; one thinks about it, clings to it, and keeps it in mind; that which one has received as something to love, is poured into the soul in a certain defection. Just as a mother expects the presence of her son, as Tobias' wife expected her son on his journey; lacking in desire, she was placed in distress, and seemed to be dissolved. For what else do his words signify if not a certain lack? But the more the emotion tires, the more love grows; and the longer the one who desires is absent, the desires of the one waiting ignite with a greater force of love. The flesh diminishes, but desire is nurtured and increased.
Therefore, the holy soul knows no other desire than the Bridegroom, who is Christ Jesus: she desires Him, she longs for Him, she directs all her strength towards Him, she cherishes Him in the depths of her mind, she opens herself up to Him and pours herself out, and her only fear is that she might lose Him. Therefore, the more the soul is aroused by a greater desire to cling to her saving God, the more she weakens. Thus, this weakening indeed operates a decrease in frailty, but an increase in virtue. He longed, he desired, he was growing weak, he was completely overcome with affection, so that he became wholly the one he desired, as David himself also says: I pour out my prayer in his presence, and before him I declare my trouble, when my spirit grows faint within me (Ps. CXLI, 3 and 4). For his spirit failed; rather, the spirit failed in him, who denies himself in order to cleave to Christ. Therefore, like one impatient with love, he ran around and sought the Word of God everywhere, because wounded, because naked; and he sought the support of someone by whom Christ might be asked to come. See the one who is boiling, see the one who is longing: I adjure, he says, you, daughters of Jerusalem, etc.; then, mingled with the daughters of that heavenly city, he seeks the Word, and by seeking and contemplating his appearance, he arouses love for him within himself.
58. (Verse 10.) My brother, he says, is fair and ruddy, chosen from among thousands. For it is fitting, maiden, that you fully know whom you love, and that in him you recognize the mystery both of his innate divinity and of his assumed incarnation. He is fair, therefore, deservedly, because he is the splendor of the Father; ruddy, because he is the offspring of the Virgin. The color shines and glows in him of both natures. Yet remember the more ancient marks of divinity in him, rather than the sacraments of the body; for he did not begin from the Virgin, but he who existed came into the Virgin.
My brother is fair and reddish. Fair with eternal brightness, reddish in appearance like human flesh, which he assumed by the sacrament of the incarnation. And rightly, even what is reddish smells good; because the flesh of Christ is without sin, which the perfidious, by touching it, have defiled their hands: those who venerate the holy, burn with the scent of piety.
60. Chosen from among thousands. Ten thousand, says Jacob, Ephraem and the thousands of Manasseh; that is, both of the Jews and of the Gentiles shall dominate, and acquire for itself the fullness of the Church from both peoples. And therefore holy Jacob placed his right hand upon Ephraem; because the Church says in the Song of Songs: My brother is white and ruddy, chosen from among ten thousand. Finally, even David in his Psalms praised the author of the maiden Mary, from whose lineage Christ was born through the Virgin's birth, in ten thousand: but Saul in thousands, although they should have given greater grace of reverence to the king.
61. (Verse 11.) Its head is as gold, Cephas. Which signifies stable and eminent wisdom. The body of Christ is the Church, and its head is as gold because the wisdom of the saints is precious, that is, righteous and prudent men.
Her hair is like fir trees, black like a raven. Regarding this, elsewhere it is said, Your hair is like a flock of goats. Hair is mentioned here because the power of all the senses is in the head: The eyes of a wise man are in his head (Ecclesiastes 2:14). Therefore, the deep wisdom of scholars is able to reveal things that are obscure and open up the depths of understanding. And such debaters are the hair of the Church, like the young ravens to whom the Lord gives food: as He gave it to holy Jacob and nourished him from his youth. The Lord feeds these others with profound richness of doctrine through heavenly sacraments.
63. (Verse 12.) Her eyes also are like doves. The eyes of the man are adorned, of course, with spiritual senses, which are keen to see mysteries, and prepared to penetrate the secret divine Scriptures, shining with rational milk, in which there is no confusing stain of deceit, but rather the unsullied sincerity of simple affection. Therefore, after mentioning the doves that are washed in the abundance of waters, he says:
64. His eyes are like doves above the abundance of water, washed in milk, sitting on fullness. The Lord baptizes in milk, that is, in sincerity. And these are the ones who are truly baptized in milk, who believe without deceit and offer pure faith, so that they may receive immaculate grace. Therefore, the pure Bride ascends to Christ because she was baptized in milk. Therefore, the virtues marvel at her, saying: Who is this who ascends white (Cant. VIII, 7)? A little while ago she was saying, 'I am black' (Canticles 1); now she is seen as white, and she ascends to heaven, supported by the Word of God, she now reaches the heights.
65. Not without reason is there an abundance of water there, where Christ is, from whom the human mind desires to be filled. The deer thirsts for these waters, and when it drinks them, it cannot thirst anymore. The Prophet thirsted for these waters when he said: As the deer longs for streams of water (Psalm 42:1). Therefore, Christ sits upon the abundance of waters and upon their fullness, and for this reason, the one who baptizes in water says: And from his fullness we have all received (John 1:16). Hence, the eye of punishment is not absent from the Church, for although John was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, where there was an abundance of water, and twelve springs, and seventy palm trees. The Church has these sources, namely, in the Old Testament the twelve patriarchs, and in the New Testament the twelve apostles; and therefore it is said: Bless the Lord God in the churches, from the fountains of Israel (Psalm 67:27). Whoever attains the most holy mysteries is sprinkled with these fountains, for these fountains, flowing from the eternal source, have spread throughout the whole world. Where these fountains are, there is the ascension of souls. Finally, Salim is interpreted as the one ascending; for he truly ascends who casts off his own sins. Therefore, the use of this word expresses the purification of sanctification.
66. (Verse 13.) Her cheeks are like vials of perfume, overflowing with fragrance. Now we understand that the cheeks and other virtues of the soul are the various qualities of teachers: those who diligently provide spiritual nourishment to the mind through careful instruction, or bind the listener with the preaching of the Lord's cross as if with a certain line of the Word, or are most pleasing in their modesty and the bloom of youth. Although they may be withdrawn from physical contact out of modesty, nevertheless the fragrance of Christ should emanate from them: and just as the anointing descends from the priestly head onto the cheeks, so should the beauty of doctrine shine forth in them.
Her lips, dripping with full myrrh, symbolize the ointment of passion and the grace of resurrection. This ointment, which gives off the fragrance of new life, is poured into the hearts of the dead. Therefore, may the gates of your lips be closed, and may the entrance to your voice remain sealed, until perhaps it should be opened when you hear the Word of God. Then, myrrh will flow to you, then the grace of baptism will breathe upon you, so that you may die to the elements of the world and rise with Christ.
Her lips dripping with full myrrh. But we consider ourselves idle if we only appear to study in word: and we value those who work more than those who exercise the pursuit of knowledge of truth; for many say: Behold the man and his works: as if one who studies in word does not work; when that work should be valued more than the rest. For if justice is a work, if temperance is a work, if fortitude is a work: surely wisdom is also a work; for these four principal virtues are considered. For if Christ works according to what is right, certainly He works according to what the Word is. And He worked when He was in the beginning with the Father. Indeed, through Him all things were made, so that you may know that He is the operator of all things, and our work is Christ Jesus. Truly, according to what the Word is, the Word is a great work for those who seek it. Therefore, when Martha was busy with her ministry, while Mary was listening to the Word of the Lord, she deserved to be esteemed higher than the one who was serving her; for Martha said to Him: Lord, is it not of concern to You that my sister has left me alone to serve? Therefore, tell her to help me; And Jesus answering, said to her: Martha, Martha, thou art careful, and art troubled about many things: But one thing is necessary. Mary hath chosen the best part, which shall not be taken away from her. (Luke 10:40-42). Thus, it is defined by divine authority that knowing the Word is a greater work than serving.
69. But perhaps someone might say that it is said by the Apostle: The kingdom of God is not in word, but in power (I Cor. IV, 20). I do not deny that it is written, but in what word I recognize it; namely, the word which the inspired one has poured forth, which cannot benefit those who hear it unless it is demonstrated, and which is without display of spirit and power. Paul does not deign to acknowledge this word; for he wants rather to commend the power of the word. Finally, the Apostle wanted his word to be such that it would come in weakness, so as to make others stronger: in fear and trembling, so that those who fear would fear nothing except the Lord Jesus; trembling, that they would preserve his peace and tranquility. Listen to what kind of speech the Apostle had: And he says, my speech and my preaching were not in the persuasive words of human wisdom, but in the demonstration of the Spirit and power (2 Corinthians 2:4); for faith is not confirmed by eloquent words of wisdom, but by the demonstration of the Spirit, but by the power of God.
Therefore, in the speech of the saints, there is power, but in that forensic and philosophical speech, there is the vanity of the world. However, let this prophet teach you that there is virtue in the speech of the saints, who says: 'The Lord will give the word to those who preach the Gospel with great power' (Psalm 68:11); that is, so that they may preach the Gospel with great power. Therefore, it is proven that there is power in the preaching of the Gospel, and the preaching of the Gospel is the speech of the saints; thus, there is no doubt that there is virtue in holy speech. And this myrrh, dripping from the lips of the Bridegroom, namely through which vices are mortified.
71. (Verse 14.) Her hands are skillful, golden, adorned with hyacinths. See what hands have made man, and what man they have made! Certainly, the one whom we put on according to Christ, stripping off the old man with his actions, and putting on the new one who is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of the one who created him: where there is neither slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all (Colossians 3:9-11). Therefore, we put on Christ, as it is also said elsewhere: You have put on Christ (Galatians 3:27). We have received the Holy Spirit, who not only forgives our sins but also makes us priests to forgive the sins of others. Therefore, the Prophet says: You formed me and placed your hand upon me (Psalm 138:5): formed from clay, placed your hand by means of spiritual grace; although many interpret this psalm as spoken by the Savior. Listen, because the hand of the Lord is also called the spirit, Job proclaims: The divine spirit that made me (Job 33:4). These are therefore the hands that created man, Christ and the Spirit.
Therefore, the Lord Jesus is the author of our body, who first made man in His image; and later fashioned him from clay, and desired to save what He had made, to save what He had molded, in order to make the whole man safe. These are the skillful hands of God, that is, perfect: golden because of the wisdom that is Christ, full of hyacinths because of the Holy Spirit, and the fullness of His gifts.
73. (Verse 14.) His belly is like ivory, adorned with sapphires. The Apostle says, 'And though he was crucified through weakness, yet he lives by the power of God' (2 Corinthians 13:4); behold the belly, that is, the weakness of the flesh. But he still lives by the power of God; behold the adornment of sapphires. For sapphire, because it bears the appearance of a serene sky, signifies the works of divinity. But onyx, because of its purity, brightness, and eternity, signifies that flesh of the Savior about which the same Apostle says, 'So we have known Christ according to the flesh, but now henceforth we know him no more' (2 Corinthians 5:16).
74. (Verse 15.) The legs of that marble column, founded upon golden bases. They signify the columns of the Church, who were founded in holy fear. For just as Peter, James, John, and Barnabas seemed to be columns of the Church, so whoever overcomes this age becomes a column of God, which is confirmed by the one who says: I have confirmed its columns (Psalm 74:4). So too, the golden base is full of fear and discipline, because it is the beginning of wisdom. Therefore, in the fear of the wise, the apostolic preaching is firmly established as a golden column of Christ. Therefore, the fear of the just is both the judgment and the golden foundation full of prudence: but the good image, like the likeness of truth, is the discourse of the saints.
75. And see how the fear of the saints is like a golden foundation. Read Isaiah: see how much fear he has subjected, to make it blameless and good fear: The Spirit, he says, of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and power, the Spirit of knowledge and piety, the Spirit of the fear of the Lord (Isaiah 11:2); how much fear he has subjected, so that it may have something to follow! It is informed by wisdom, instructed by understanding, guided by counsel, strengthened by power, governed by knowledge, adorned by piety. Take away these fears of the Lord, for this fear is irrational and foolish, one of those: Outside are battles, inside are fears (II Cor. VII, 5); with which Paul would have been afflicted if he had not had the comforting Lord.
76. (Verse 15.) Its appearance is like that of the Cedar of Lebanon, chosen as the Cedars. It dwells in high places and looks upon lowly things, for its appearance is like the Cedar of Lebanon, which extends its hair to the clouds and its roots to the earth; its beginning is from heaven, and its latter fruits have come forth from the earth. This type of tree never loses its greenness, it feeds its hair both in winter and in summer, and it does not change color with the seasons; only the wind never strips this tree of its honor: only it is never deprived of its old garment or clothed in a new flower. Thus also the apostolic grace does not know decay, and it flourishes with perpetual beauty. Therefore, the soul does not know corruption, which thrives in flourishing limbs, always supporting the heights of justice and the other virtues with patient magnanimity; and thus it does not flow away or fail, because nothing in it is ruinous or lax, nothing is movable, nothing is slippery, nothing that could be poured out from it by the fault of speech.
77. (Verse 16.) His throat is most sweet, and his whole being is desirable. The judgments of the Lord are true, justified in themselves, more desirable than gold and a great deal of precious stone (Psalm 18:10-11). What is severe in others is sweet in Christ, sweet in Christ; because He Himself is sweet: Finally, taste and see that the Lord is sweet (Psalm 23:9). Sweet are the judgments to the one confessing, because He Himself says: I am, I am the one who destroys your iniquities, and I will not remember: but you, remember, and let us be judged. Declare your iniquities, that you may be justified (Isaiah XLIII, 25 and 26). Sweet are the judgments for those who repent, for he himself said: There will be joy over one sinner doing penance, more than over ninety-nine just who do not need penance (Luke XV, 7). Therefore, if the judgments of the Lord are sweet, let us strive to receive the fruit of sweetness. Do you want to know how sweet are the judgments of the Lord? Whoever believes in him is not judged (John III, 18). Therefore sweet judgments await those who believe: but those who do not believe, are condemned by the judgment of Christ, who came not to judge the world, but to save and redeem; but the judgment of their impiousness falls upon those who refuse to believe in the remission of sins. For they cannot partake of his goodness, whom they have refused to acknowledge. Therefore, those who do not believe in him, are seen as unworthy of his judgment. For recognize what his judgment is, as he himself says: But this judgment is, by which the light came into this world (John 19). Therefore, what is sweet is light, and what precedes mercy is sweet judgment; for it is written, I will sing of mercy and judgment to you, O Lord (Psalm 101:1). The throat is also sweet and most pleasant, from which mercy precedes and this judgment.
78. (Verse 16.) And wholly desirable. Beautiful in form among the sons of men (Psalm 44:3). For indeed He was a man according to the flesh, but beyond man according to divine operation. For when He touched the leper, He appeared as a man, but beyond man when He cleansed. And when He wept for Lazarus dead, He wept as a man, but He was above man when He commanded the dead man, bound with fetters, to come forth. He appeared as a man when He hung on the cross, but He was above man when He opened the tombs and raised the dead. Nor do the Apollinarian heretics deceive themselves, because it is thus read: 'And being found in fashion as a man' (Philip. II, 7); for Jesus is not denied to be man, since elsewhere Paul himself says of Him: 'The Mediator of God and man, the man Christ Jesus' (I Tim. II, 5); but He is confirmed. For this is the way and custom of Scripture to signify thus, as we also read in the Gospel: 'And we saw his glory, the glory as it were of the only begotten of the Father' (John I). Just as therefore he is called the only-begotten, and the only-begotten Son of God is not denied; so also he is called man, and it is not denied that the perfection of man was in him.
79. When, therefore, he was in the form of a servant, he was humbled even unto death, yet he was in the glory of God. What then hindered him from being a servant? It is recorded that he became a servant because he is read to have been made of a Virgin, and created in the flesh; for every creature serves, as the prophet says: For all creatures serve thee. This is the glory of Christ, that he took on servitude in his body, that he might restore liberty to all: he carried our sins, that he might remove the sin of the world: he, a servant, became sin, became a curse, that you might cease to be a servant of sin, and be freed from the curse of divine judgment. Therefore, he received your curse: For cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree; he became cursed on the cross, so that you may be blessed in the kingdom of God. He was dishonored and despised, not valued at all. He said, 'I have labored in vain'; by whom Paul deserved to say, 'I have not labored in vain' (Philippians 2:16); so that he may bestow the fruit of good works and the glory of preaching the Gospel upon his servants, through whom the burden of labor may be completed for all.
80. (Verse 17.) Such is my beloved and my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem. Thus the Church or the holy soul, mingled with the daughters of that heavenly city, seeks the Word by searching, and by searching excites love for Him in herself. But to those who seek and say, 'Where has your beloved gone, O most beautiful among women? Where has your beloved turned, that we may seek him with you?'