Chapter 8
1. (Verse 5.) Who is she who ascends white, leaning on her brother? How is it that she, who placed her head on the left hand of wisdom, opened her hands to help the poor; sharing or abandoning her own possessions, and not seizing and plundering riches for her own use? She, who eagerly sought glory through good works, did not aim for empty worldly boasting of dignity, for this is her head, and she established a certain principle of senses above the hand of wisdom. She, I say, her soul ascends to the shining rewards, from this deserted life as many have, to that flourishing place of eternal delight.
These are the virtues that are also mentioned in the book of Isaiah: Who is this that comes from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah, this one who is beautiful in his robe (Isa. LXIII, 1)? These, I say, are the ones who marvel that from this rugged and rocky desert it is possible for a soul to ascend without the stain of great vices; and therefore they rejoice that one has been found who has not defiled the garments of natural innocence with the ink of worldly folly, but rather cleansed them with the brightness of spiritual wisdom and grace. The daughters of Jerusalem admire the holy souls of the patriarchs and prophets, and of the old righteous, or celestial powers, saying: Who is this that ascends, leaning on her brother, beautifully adorned? This, indeed, is the Church that shines in such solemnities, and which was before dark during the day, now shines in the night and glows. The Lord Himself, delighted by such a gift of those who sing, also says:
3. (Verse 6.) Put me like a seal upon your heart, like a seal upon your arm; for love is strong as death, jealousy is fierce as the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire, the very flame of the Lord. Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it. For the church has seen such devotion and considers the people suitable who can bear His seal in our hearts and on our arms. For God the Father Himself has sealed it, and those who have received His testimony have been sealed because God is true. Therefore, those who work for food that endures to eternal life have been sealed in the image and likeness of Christ, who is the image of the invisible God. So, just as God is true, you also must show the truth in your thoughts and actions. Let your mouth not speak falsehood, and let your hands not engage in the deceitful works of this world. Instead, let them perform deeds that are pleasing to God: giving to the poor, helping the weak, and honoring the dead with proper burial. It is through these acts of charity that we seek the union with Christ, where no one can separate us from Him, even in the face of death. Tribulation, or distress, or persecution (Rom. VIII, 35)? And further: For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels (Ibid.).
4. In this form, zealousness is also a hard form of charity, and its wings are wings of fire. It has wings like a dove, for its feathers are silvered like the feathers of a dove, by which the one who loves takes flight, saying: Behold, I have fled far away, and have stayed in the wilderness (Psalm 54:8). But the wings of charity are wings of fire, by which the ardor of love is inflamed. By this vapor, the Lord made his angels fervent spirits, and his ministers burning fire, but not consuming fire. We read that he also brought Jesus to the pinnacle of the temple, above which the devil, tempting Him, made Him ascend (Matt. IV, 3). Therefore, there are heights of piety, there are summits of charity, which are accustomed to kindle the vapor of grace in human hearts, so that much water may not be able to extinguish or exclude charity, and rivers of secular storms may not confine it. We have said that charity excludes fear, but we have not said that it excludes all disturbance; for, indeed, the one who loves God, there is a profound tranquility of a confirmed mind.
5. (Verse 7.) Many waters, he says, cannot extinguish charity, and rivers cannot drown it. There is much water of different passions, and rivers driven by secular desires with bodily motions, which, however, cannot undermine the wall of charity. Therefore, being founded on charity, he says: Our soul has passed through a torrent (Psalm 123:5). Could the water of the sea exclude the charity of Moses? And so, in accordance with the literal interpretation, the sequence of the psalms supports you, namely, he believed that a safe journey through the seas is to diligently trust in God: but those who did not love God, they were submerged in the waves and suffered a worthy end of their sacrilege.
6. (Verse 5.) Who is this who comes up leaning on her beloved? Above, they said, What is this who looks forth like the dawn, beautiful as the moon, bright as the sun? Here, more was found to be added, because she had ascended leaning on the Word of God; for the more perfect rest above Christ, just as John was resting on Christ’s chest. Thus, either she was reclining upon Christ or reclining above him; or certainly, since we are speaking about a wedding, she was already being led by the Bridegroom into the bridal chamber, as if delivered into Christ’s right hand. And because now there is a bond of love, the groom flatters her, and says:
7. Under the evil tree I lifted you up, there your mother gave birth to you, there the one who bore you gave birth to you. A good soul rests under the fruitful tree, and most of all a soul of good fragrance. For if Nathanael was good, in whom there was no deceit, he was seen under the fig tree; surely a good soul, which was lifted up under her spouse. For it is greater to be lifted up than to be seen: even greater to be lifted up by one's spouse. For although Nathanael seemed to be under the tree, his soul was not a bride; because he secretly came to Christ, because he feared the Jews. She was not as beautiful as the moon, nor as chosen as the sun, which was in shadow; because the bride who marries during the day openly confesses. Therefore, this one is under the apple tree, that one under the fig tree; because this one spread the scent of her confession further, that one had the sweetness of purity and did not have the ardor of the spirit.
8. There, he says, your mother gave birth to you, there she gave birth to you who gave birth to you; for there we are born, there we are reborn. But those in whom the image of Christ is formed give birth, hence Paul also says: Little children, whom I am in labor until Christ is formed in you (Galatians IV, 19). Indeed, he who receives the spirit of salvation in the womb gives birth, and pours it into others. Therefore, since Christ was already formed in this, he says:
9. (Verse 6.) Place me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm. The seal of Christ is upon the forehead, a seal upon the heart: on the forehead, to confess always; on the heart, to love always: a seal upon the arm, to work always. Therefore, let his image shine in our confession, shine in our reading, shine in our actions and deeds; so that, if possible, his whole likeness may be expressed in us. He is our head, for the head of man is Christ: he is our eye, through which we see the Father: he is our voice, through which we speak to the Father: he is our right hand, through which we offer our sacrifice to God the Father. He himself is also our seal, which is the sign of charity and perfection; because the loving Father sealed the Son, as we read: Whom the Father sealed, God (John 6:27). Therefore, our charity is Christ. Good charity, when he offered himself to death for his beloved; good charity which forgave sin.
And therefore let our soul put on charity, and such charity that is strong like death; for as death is the end of sins, so is charity; because he who loves the Lord, ceases from sinning: For charity does not think evil, nor does it rejoice over wickedness, but sustains all things (1 Corinthians 13:5). For he who does not seek his own possessions, how will he seek those of others? And that death is also strong through the washing, through which all sin is buried and guilt is forgiven. Such was the charity which that Gospel woman showed, of whom the Lord said: Her many sins are forgiven her, because she has loved much (Luke 7:47). And so that death of the holy martyrs is mighty, which wipes away previous guilt; and therefore it is mighty, whose charity is not unequal to the passion of the martyrs, so as to take away the reward of sins.
11. Zeal, moreover, is like the infernal [beings], for the one who has zeal for God does not spare even themselves for Christ. Therefore, love has both death and zeal, and love has the wings of fire. Finally, [we see that] Christ, loving Moses, appeared to him in fire. And Jeremiah, having within him the gift of divine love, said: 'There was a fire burning in my bones, and I am consumed on all sides, and I cannot bear it' (Jer. XX, 9). Therefore, love with the wings of burning fire is good, which flutters through the hearts and minds of the saints, and consumes whatever is material and earthly; it tests whatever is genuine, and improves whatever it touches with its own fire.
12. The Lord Jesus sent this fire on the earth, and faith shone forth, devotion was kindled, charity was illuminated, justice shone. With this fire, He inflamed the hearts of His apostles, as Cleophas testifies, saying: 'Did not our hearts burn within us while He opened the Scriptures?' (Luke 24:32) Therefore, the wings of fire are the divine Scriptures. Finally, He opened the Scriptures, and the fire went forth, and it penetrated the hearts of those who heard. And true wings of fire, because: The words of the Lord are chaste words, silver tried by fire (Psalm 11:7). When Paul also was taken up by Christ, he saw a light shine around him and those who were with him, he fell from fear, and he rose up stronger. Finally, he became an apostle, who had come as a persecutor. The Holy Spirit also descended and filled the whole house where they were sitting, and tongues as of fire were seen divided. Good wings, wings of charity, truly wings that flew through the mouths of the apostles: and wings of fire, because they spoke a purified word.
13. Enoch flew away with wings and was taken up to heaven; Elijah flew away with wings of fire and horses of fire and was carried up to the heights. The Lord God led the people of the fathers through the desert with wings of fire. The Seraphim had these wings when he took coals of fire from the altar, touched the mouth of the prophet, took away his sins, and purified his transgressions. The sons of Levi were cleansed by the fire of these wings, and the peoples of the nations were baptized, as John bears witness, saying of the Lord Jesus: He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire (Matt. III, 11). Deservedly, he wanted to burn his kidneys and his heart like David because he knew that the fiery wings of love should not be feared. Deservedly, the Hebrew boys did not feel the fires of the burning furnace because the flame of their charity cooled them. And so that we may know more fully that perfect charity has wings, you have heard him say: 'How often have I wanted to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings' (Matthew 23:37).
14. Let us therefore take these wings, which, like flames, rise upward. Let each one strip off their soul with dirty clothing and, like gold, prove it cleansed by fire from the filth. For thus the soul is purified, like the best gold. But the true beauty of the soul is virtue and beauty, a truer knowledge of heavenly things; so that it may see that good from which all things depend, itself, however, depending on nothing. Therefore, it lives and receives understanding. For the source of life is that highest good, the desire for which is kindled within us, the pleasure of approaching and mingling with which is the ultimate delight: those who do not see it long for it, and those who see it possess life; therefore it despises all other things, and is gratified by this alone. This is what supplies all substance: while remaining in itself, it gives to others; but it receives nothing from others, concerning which the Prophet says: I said to the Lord: You are my God; for you have no need of my goods (Psalms XV, 2).
15. His wings, the wings of fire. It is necessary for all those who desire to return to paradise to be tested by fire; for it is not written in vain that, after Adam and Eve were ejected from the seat of paradise, God placed a flaming sword at the exit of paradise. It is necessary for all to pass through the flames, whether it be that John the Evangelist, whom the Lord loved so much that he said to Peter about him: If I will that he remain, what is that to you? You follow me (John 21:22). Some doubted his death, we cannot doubt his passing through fire; because he is in paradise, and is not separated from Christ. Whether he be Peter, who received the keys of the kingdom of heaven, who walked upon the sea, he must say: We have passed through fire and water, and thou hast brought us out into a refreshment (Psalm 65:12). But to John, the fiery sword will quickly turn; because no injustice is found in him, whom justice loved. If there was any fault of human weakness in him, divine charity purged it: For his wings are like the wings of fire. Whoever has the fire of charity here, cannot fear the fire of the sword there. To Peter himself, who so often offered his own death for Christ, He says: Pass over, recline. But he said: He has tested us with fire, just as he tested silver.
16. His wings, wings of fire. Therefore, since we have been given the opportunity to fly, let each one awaken gratitude to God within themselves, forgetting what is behind and striving towards what is ahead, towards the goal. Far from the honors of worldly affairs, far from the heat of the world; lest, as the fables tell, the heat of the sun melts the wax and the wax wings, causing them to fall from the sky. For though the weight of words may hinder, they still wanted to declare with poetic wit that flights through the heavens are safe for the maturity of the wise; but the youthful lightness, prone to worldly desires, with wings flowing back, and loosened by the bonds of forgetfulness of truth and the bonds of merits, descends to the earth with greater destruction.
17. The flight is not easy for everyone, it is even difficult for animals on earth with different ways of life. But if the order of our actions suits you, you will see in us that prophet's wheel on the ground, connected to four animals. And you will see Ezekiel once again, for he still sees and is full of life and will continue to be so (Ezek. I, 15 and 16): I say, you will see the wheel within the wheel, gliding smoothly on the ground without stumbling. For the wheel upon the earth, life is fitted to the virtue of the soul, and formed by a precept in cohesion with the gospel. And the wheel within the midst of the wheel, as life within life, so that the life of the saints is not discordant; but as it was in the previous age, so let it be in the following: or let this usage of the eternal life revolve in this life of the body. When these things are in agreement, then the divine voice will resound, then upon the likeness of the throne a similarity like the appearance of a man will be seen. Here is the man who is the Word, because the Word became flesh (John 1:14): this man is the driver of our animals, the ruler of our morals, who for the sake of our merits, often ascends a chariot, a mountain, or a ship.
18. Place me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm; for you have preserved for me what is new and what is old. You are my seal, created in my image and likeness. In you shines the image of justice, the image of wisdom, the image of virtue. And since the image of God is in your heart, may it also be in your actions: may the likeness of the Gospel be present in your deeds, so that you may keep my commandments in your conduct. The likeness of the Gospel will be in you if, when someone strikes your cheek, you offer the other one; if you love your enemy; if you take up your cross and follow me. Therefore, I carried the cross for you, so that you would not hesitate to carry it for me. The daughters of Jerusalem heard this, that the Lord God was joining the Church to himself: and because they were considering the greatness of the Word, they considered themselves unworthy of such a marriage; lest they be unable to bear the weight of such a bond, they made excuses, saying:
19. (Vers. 8.) Our little sister, she does not have breasts. For those who want to postpone marriage have customarily made excuses, pretending to have the weakness of a young age and claiming that they do not have breasts, which signify the time of marriageable age. This is usually a common symbol for all virgin brides; when their breasts start to develop, they are considered ready for marriage. Therefore, disturbed that the Bridegroom is urging them to marry out of love, they say:
20. What shall we do for our sister on the day when she speaks within her, or as Symmachus, when he speaks to her? This is the colloquy that usually takes place during the celebration of the betrothal and the confirmation of the marriage. What, then, shall we do, they ask, because the spiritual union presses upon us? They cannot excuse themselves from such a great wedding; no one is so foolish as to consider the union of soul and spirit, or of Christ and the Church, as not blessed. But because the fullness of the Word or the Holy Spirit quivers and shines, and there is nothing that can be equal to them; therefore, they desire to delay, so that by that delay either the soul or the Church may become more perfect. Dicunt ergo:
21. (Verse 9.) If it is a wall, let us build silver receptacles upon it: and if it is a gate, let us carve cedar tablets upon it. The wall is the soul of the holy one. And the Church also has its walls, which it declares to be more perfect: I am a fortified city (Isaiah 27:3). This is the wall that has twelve apostolic gates, through which the entrance into the Church is open to the people of all nations. But although the wall may encompass the entire city, it is still more fortified when it has prepared receptacles in which the defenders of the city can have a safe place to watch and defend. But because this city is rational, and all its hope is in the Word of God, it requires not iron but silver ramparts to repel hostile attacks accustomed to be repulsed by heavenly eloquence rather than bodily pleasures.
22. Supported by this protection, shining with this splendor, one is considered more capable of uniting with Christ. And because Christ is the door, who says: If anyone enters through me, he will be saved (John 10:9); and the church is called a door, because through it the entrance to salvation is open to the people. But so that it is not corrupted by the worms or pests of heretics, the daughters of Jerusalem, or the angels, or the souls of the righteous say: Let us build on it cedar boards, that is, the good fragrance of sublime faith. For the scent of this material is pleasant, which neither worm nor moth can corrupt. Therefore, the use of this material is chosen for the elevation of roofs and the formation of letter elements, with which the young age is imbued with the study of liberal education. Thus, this material is sublime for beauty, light for burden, pleasant for smell, useful for the instrument of knowledge, and suitable for the service of eternal cognition. But just as Christ lovingly urged His bride to the solemnity of spiritual union, so too did the Church, captivated by the splendor of the Word, hasten to the wedding. Therefore, impatient of delay and procrastination, which the daughters of Jerusalem were eager to interweave, he says:
23. (Verse 10.) I am a wall, and my breasts are towers. That is, do not doubt whether I am a wall; for they had said: If he is a wall; I am a wall, she says, and I have not small breasts, but my breasts are like towers. How do you say, then, that I do not have breasts? I understand that my breasts are like towers of wisdom, in which there is abundance, as it is written: And abundance in your towers (Psalm 122:7). With these breasts, that is, with these senses, she considered herself fit for such a marriage. But the daughters of Jerusalem still could not understand, because they could not see the abundance of her blessings. And he added:
24. (Verse 11.) I was in his eyes as one who finds peace; that is, having deliberated on my senses, when I found the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, and guards hearts and senses in Christ Jesus. Such, he says, was I in the eyes of the bridegroom, like one who possesses peace; for it is written: Those who seek peace will rejoice.
25. (Verse 12.) I, he said, am a fortified city, I am a besieged city (Isaiah 27:3). It is fortified by these walls, it is defended by being besieged. And truly the walls are the soul, which is extended in the camp. Hence she herself says in the Song of Songs: I am a wall, and my breasts are like towers (Verse 10). A good wall which the Lord painted, as he himself says: I have painted your walls in my hands, and you are always in my sight (Isaiah 49:16). A good soul which has God as its watchman, and is in his hands; like the prophetic soul, which is entrusted to the hands of God as a spirit (Psalm 31:6), and which is in the sight of God: For the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous; as he himself also says: I was in his eyes like one who finds peace. It has good towers, which have both the word of intelligibles and the discipline of morals. Therefore, to those who are in a hurry, the spiritual union is celebrated, desired with mutual consent. And so, like a wedding song, the Spirit rejoiced in the prophet, saying:
26. (Verse 11.) A vineyard was made for Solomon in Baal-hamon, he gave his vineyard to those who keep it. Therefore the Spirit cries out, A congregation of peoples is planted, but the vine, rooted in the eternal, has subjected gentle hearts under the yoke of the Word. However, it is planted among the multitude of nations. For Beel-hamon, Symmachus, Aquila, and other translations have taught that this should be understood in the Greek language. The old covenant which could not bear fruit has been rejected, a vineyard has been given to new and faithful cultivators who can not only bear fruit but also guard it. Therefore, one sheep has gone astray, but in being called back it has filled the spaces of the entire world. The error of one sheep had led it astray, but by the grace of the Lord it has gathered a multitude of peoples. Man has erred, but in the Church there is now a strong wall. Adam erred, but David is the wall who did not forget the commands of God. Therefore, this vineyard, guarded and protected by spiritual means, produces a thousand fruits for Christ, and two hundred fruits for the guardians. And so the Church says:
27. (Verse 12.) My vineyard is in front of me like a thousand of Solomon, and two hundred fruit-bearing servants. The perfection and fullness of Christ is the portion of little ones. You have this mystery in Genesis, where Joseph gives Benjamin, his younger brother, five portions while giving one portion to each of his other brothers (Gen. 43:34). Therefore, the Lord is bestowed with the portion and prerogative of the five senses, which He surely gives to the one whom He loves, just as He loved Paul and gave him the primacy of wisdom for the calling of the gentiles. Let the fear of these sacred virgins cease, to whom the Church has given such great protection, which, solicitous for the success of its tender offspring, like a wall grows with abundant towers: until, the hostile attack of the besiegement being loosened, it acquires peace through the strength of maternal protection to the powerful youth. Hence, the Prophet says: Let peace be in your strength, and abundance in your towers (Psalm 122:7).
28. (Verse 13.) You who sit in the gardens, friends attending to your voice, intimate your voice to me. Therefore, this soul having the grace of her abundant breasts, enters into the gardens, and finding there the Bridegroom sitting and conversing with friends, says: You who sit in the gardens, intimate your voice to me: to me, she says, not to friends.
29. You who sit in the gardens, while your friends listen to your voice, whisper your voice to me. For they were delighted that Christ was sitting in the gardens, and his friends who were placed in the gardens were attentive to his voice. But because those friends were from the heavens, Archangels or Dominions and Thrones (for humans were expelled from paradise because of their disobedience to heavenly commandments, and therefore the Church still could not hear his voice, which it desired to hear), therefore he says: Whisper your voice to me. And so, if we want Him to dwell in us, let us be closed and fortified gardens, let us bear the flowers of virtues, the sweetness of graces, so that we may be able to hear the Lord Jesus speaking with the angels while He is disputing. But because it was going to happen that when the Church had reached its fullness, it would be tried by various persecutions; therefore, when he was delighted with the grace of the Word, he suddenly perceives the snares of the persecutors: and what he feared more for the Bridegroom than for himself, or because Christ is more desired by persecutors in us, therefore he says:
30. (Verse 14.) Flee, my brother, and be like a young deer or a young stag on the mountains of spices. For the weak flee, those who could not bear heavier trials. Therefore it is written, that we should flee from cities to cities: and if we are persecuted in this city, let us flee to another. Therefore, let the weak flee from those who pursue them, or let them flee from the lowest places and go to the mountains of spices, where they can bring the fragrance of blessed resurrection through martyrdom. The mountains of spices are holy. Christ takes refuge in them; because his foundations are on holy mountains (Psalm 86:1). Therefore he takes refuge in those who are his stable foundations. He flees in us, he stands firm in them. Therefore, Paul is a mountain of spices, who can say: We are the good odor of Christ to God (2 Corinthians 2:15). The mountain of spices is David, whose prayer's scent rose up to the Lord, and therefore he said: Let my prayer be directed as incense in your sight (Psalm 140:2).
However, Symmachus and Aquila have interpreted it as Christ saying to the Church: 'You who sit in gardens, that is, you now sit in gardens, worthy of the heavenly paradise; and therefore, whisper your voice to me, to whom friends are attentive: I also desire to hear it. The Church began to be in the gardens after Christ was captured in the gardens.'
32. Flee, my brother, and become like a deer or the fawn of a deer, in the mountains of spices. For you are hated by serpents that crawl on the ground, and you flee from dogs, and are threatened by crawling serpents. You can only dwell in the heights of virtues, and only stay with such daughters of the Church who can say: For we are the good smell of Christ to God (2 Corinthians 2:15). But to some, we are the smell of death leading to death, and to others, we are the smell of life leading to life, especially to those who hope in the smell of the Lord's resurrection with a lively faith. These are the mountains of spices, which received the body of the Lord Jesus and bound it in linen with spices. For whoever believed that Jesus died, and was buried, and rose again, they raised the highest peak of true faith with the heights of virtues. So where is Christ sought, namely in the heart of a wise priest?
33. Flee, my brother. He urges that the Bridegroom should flee, for she will now be able to follow the one fleeing from earth herself. He says that she should be like the damsel who escapes from the nets; for she wants to flee herself and fly above the world. Therefore, let us flee to our true homeland. There our country is, and the Father from whom we are created, where is the city of Jerusalem, which is the mother of all. But what is fleeing? It is not certainly the fleeing of feet, which are of the body; for wherever they run, they run on earth, and they pass from one ground to another. Let us not flee from ships or chariots, or horses that are bound and fall; but let us flee in mind and eyes, or let us accustom our inner feet to see the things that are clear and bright, to gaze upon the countenance of self-control and moderation, and all virtues; in which there is nothing rough, nothing obscure and twisted: and let someone look at himself and his conscience, let him cleanse that eye; lest he have anything filthy. For what is seen should not be inconsistent with the one who sees; since God wanted us to be conformed to the image of His Son.
Therefore, that good thing is known to us, and it is not far from each one of us: for in Him we live, and move, and exist; as some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His children.’ Being, then, the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold, or silver, or stone, an image formed by the art and thought of man. Therefore, having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.” - Acts 17:28-31 Let us be similar to this good, and let us work according to what is good. This is the good that surpasses all work, surpasses all mind and understanding, it is what always remains, giving life and being to all; because Christ is the source of all life, of whom the prophet says: In his shadow we will live. Now our life is hidden in Christ: but when Christ, our life, appears, then we will also appear with him in glory.
So let us not fear death; for it is the rest of the body, but freedom or absolution for the soul. And let us not truly fear him who can kill the flesh, but cannot kill the soul; for we do not fear him who can take away our clothing, but we do not fear him who can steal from us, but he cannot. Therefore, let us be souls, if we wish to be Hebrews, the companions of Jacob, that is, his imitators. Let us be souls, but our limbs are clothing: indeed, clothing must be preserved so that it does not tear or grow old, but he who uses them should above all preserve and guard himself.