39. But just as Christ, loving his Bride, urged her to the solemnity of the spiritual union, so too did the Church, already captivated by the beauty of the Word, hasten to the wedding. And therefore, impatient of delay and hesitation, which the daughters of Jerusalem were trying to bring about, she says: I am a wall, and my breasts are towers (Song of Sol. 8:10), that is to say: do not doubt whether I am a wall (for they had said: if she is a wall); I am, she says, a wall, and I have not small breasts, but my breasts are like towers. How do you say that I have no breasts? I have senses, like towers, which hold plenty, as it is written: 'And plenty in your towers' (Ps. CXXI, 7). By these breasts, that is, senses, she thought herself suitable for such a marriage: but the daughters of Jerusalem could not yet appreciate it; because they could not see the abundance of her senses.
And he added: I was in his eyes like one finding peace (Song of Songs 8:10), meaning: Having deliberated on my senses, when I found the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, and guards the hearts and senses in Christ Jesus. I was, he says, in the eyes of the Bridegroom, like one who has peace. For it is written: Those who seek peace rightly, shall have it as a testimony (Proverbs 12:20). Therefore, for the beloved and the beloved in a hurry, the spiritual union is celebrated, eagerly sought with mutual consent.
Therefore, like a wedding song, the Spirit rejoiced in the Prophet, saying: 'Solomon had a vineyard in Beelamon; he gave his vineyard to those who keep it.' So the Spirit cries out: 'The congregation of the peoples has been planted, and the vine of eternity has been founded with deep roots, and the spiritual yoke has been placed on the gentle heart under the rule of the Word.' But it has been planted among a multitude of nations; for Beelamon in this sense is understood by Symmachus, Aquila, and other translations taught in the Greek language. The old bond has been rejected, as it could not bear fruit: a vineyard has been given to new and faithful laborers, who not only could produce fruit but also protect it. Therefore, one sheep went astray: but when it was called back, it filled the entire space of the world. One sheep had been led astray: but by the grace of the Lord, it gathered a multitude of peoples. Man went astray: but the Church is now a wall, and a strong wall it is. Adam went astray: David is the wall who did not forget the commandments of God.
Therefore, this vineyard, preserved and fortified with spiritual protection, gives a thousand fruits to Christ, but two hundred fruits to the keepers. And so the Church says: My vineyard is before me, a thousand for Solomon, and two hundred for those who keep the fruit (Ibid., 12). The perfection and fullness of Christ is the portion of the servants. You have this mystery in Genesis, where Joseph gives five portions of Benjamin to his younger brother, each one for the rest of his brothers (Gen. XLIII, 34). Therefore, the dominion of the five senses and the prerogative is bestowed upon the one whom he himself loves: just as he loved Paul, to whom he gave the principality of wisdom to call forth the nations (Acts 20:21).
Therefore, the Church, delighted with the fruits, says to Christ: You who sit in the gardens, your friends are attentive to your voice: make your voice known to me (Song of Songs 8:13). For the Church was delighted that Christ was sitting in the gardens, and his friends who were placed in the gardens were attentive to his voice. But those friends were the Archangels, or Dominions, and Thrones from heaven (for humans were expelled from Paradise due to their disobedience to the heavenly commandments, and therefore the Church was not yet able to hear his voice, which she desired), therefore she says: Make your voice known to me. So that we also, if we desire Him to sit in us, may be enclosed and fortified gardens, bearing the flowers of virtues and the sweetness of grace; so that we may be able to hear the Lord Jesus conversing with the angels.
But because it was going to happen that when the Church reached its fullness, it would be tempted by various persecutions; therefore, as he delighted in the grace of the Word, he suddenly sees the plots of persecutors: and what she feared more for her Bridegroom than for herself, or because Christ is more desired in us by persecutors, therefore she says: Flee, my brother, and be like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of spices. (Ibid., 14). He fled for the sake of the weak, who could not bear more severe temptations. Therefore it is written that we should flee from cities to cities (Matth. X, 23): and if we are persecuted in this city, let us flee to another. Therefore, because of the weak, as we have said, let him who pursues flee: or let him flee from the weak and pass over to the mountains of spices, which can bring the fragrance of blessed resurrection for martyrdom. The mountains of spices are holy. Christ fled to them, because His Foundations are in the holy mountains (Psal. LXXXVI, 1). Therefore, they seek refuge in those who are its stable foundations. It escapes within us, it persists with them in faithful station. Therefore, Paul is the mountain of aromas, who can say: For we are the good odor of Christ to God (2 Cor. 2:15). David's mountain of aromas, whose prayer's fragrance ascended 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, that Christ says to the Church: 'Which seat is in the gardens,' that is, You sit now in the gardens, worthy of the heavenly paradise; therefore, Whisper your voice to me, to whom friends listen. I also desire to hear it. The Church began to be in the gardens after Christ suffered in the gardens.