Chapter I.
After Job's absolute and more vehement interpellation, a calmer interpellation by David follows. It is not unfitting to compare him to a stag, since Christ himself did not refuse to be designated by the same animal. This likeness is most appropriate for the assumption of suffering, the calling of the Church, the defeat of the devil, and the mission of the apostles, who themselves were stags.
Indeed, many have lamented the weakness of human fragility, but among them, Job and David were particularly notable. The former, superior, direct, intense, and seemingly provoked by severe pains with a higher tragic quality; the latter, gentle, calm, and meek, with a milder emotion; so that, truly, we would imitate the heart of a deer that he set as an example for us to imitate. And do not be dismayed if I seem to preach to you in the likeness of a wild beast, when you read the statement to the apostles: Be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves (Matthew 10:16).
2. However, even though such similarities are drawn with pious examples, and the nature of deer is innocent and gentle; I think that deer is proposed here as an imitation of the Prophet, about whom Solomon, the supporter of his father's mind, said in Proverbs: 'A deer of friendship, and a foal of thanks will converse with you' (Prov. 5:19). For the true Son of God, in himself, expressed the nature which he himself bestowed on living creatures, when he came into this world as a deer: and with these he united himself in pure simplicity, by whom snares were being prepared for him. For it is reported that such is the simplicity of these deer, that when they see themselves being chased, they attach themselves to these horsemen, who, being implanted by the deceitful ministry, lead them all the way to the nets under the guise of flight and the pretense of companionship. And so, the Lord, as if unaware of the danger and unprepared, allowed himself to be mixed with the Jews who were devising a plot against him, and he enlisted the partnership of the betrayer Jew, through whose deadly pretense he approached even the noose of the cross and the nets of suffering. And turning to him, he said, 'Judas, do you betray the Son of Man with a kiss?' (Luke 22:48). And in this way, he came into the nets of the Synagogue, and wanting to submit himself; but he was not caught, nor was he ensnared, who loosens all things.
3. Finally, he stood out above the nets. And because they did not receive him, he called the Church and bestowed his grace upon her, as the most holy Church herself testifies in the Song of Songs, saying: I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem, by the powers and strength of the field; do not arouse or awaken love until it pleases (Song of Songs 2:7). Therefore, he seeks to be aroused by the fragrance of the field, which the holy Jacob smelled, that is, by that faith, that devotion, his bridegroom be stirred by the daughters of Jerusalem, so that he may hasten to his bride and be aroused by her love, or even be aroused himself, for love is the bridegroom. For God is love, as John said (1 John 4:16). But He did not allow Himself to be provoked by others; rather, He eagerly hastened forth, rejoicing like a giant to run His course. The bride saw Him and heard the voice of His coming, and immediately turned and said: Behold, here He comes, leaping over the mountains, bounding over the hills (Song of Solomon 2:8); for He leaps over the great and bounds over the small, so as not to be hindered in His loving haste. He says, my cousin is similar to a young goat or a young deer over the mountains of Bethel. He is a fine deer, whose mountain is the house of God, to which he runs with such speed that he surpasses the wishes and desires of his bride. Indeed, when he saw him coming from afar, he suddenly recognized that he was present beside him. Hence he says: Behold, he is here behind our wall, looking through the windows, peering through the lattice. My cousin answered and said to me: Arise, come, my nearest one, my beautiful one, my dove; for behold, winter has passed, the rain has gone, it has departed for itself, flowers have appeared on the earth. Winter is the Synagogue: the rain is the Jewish people, who could not see the sun: the apostles are the flowers. And he added: The harvest of the incision has come, the voice of the turtledove was heard in our land (Ibid. 12). That harvest is the faith of the Church: the voice of the turtledove is chastity.
And not only does Christ take the likeness of these things, but even of a stag, because when he came to earth he crushes that serpent, the devil, without any harm to himself, and offered him his heel, but did not feel his poison. Hence it is said to him: You will tread on the asp and basilisk (Psalm 90:13). Let us therefore be stags, so that we may be able to walk on serpents. We will be stags if we follow the voice of Christ, which prepares the stags and makes them not fear the bites of serpents; and if perhaps they are wounded, he takes away their pain by forgiving their sin. Concerning these deer, the Lord says to Job: Have you observed the offspring of the deer? Have you counted their months, when they give birth in abundance? Have you helped them give birth or nourished their young, so they do not fear? (Job 39:1-2). Listen to how the young of such deer do not fear. Let Isaiah teach you, saying: And a small child shall put his hand into the den of asps, and they shall not harm him (Isaiah 11:8). And to show that it seems to symbolize the children of the Church, he added: You will send forth their offspring, their young will break free and multiply in the generation, they will go forth and not turn back (Job 39:4-5). For no one, when he puts his hand to the plow and looks back, is fit for the kingdom of God.
5. Therefore, the deer became a Lord deservedly; so that the voice of the Lord would prepare such deer for himself, of whom he says: In my name they will cast out demons, they will speak in new tongues, they will pick up serpents, and if they drink anything deadly, it will not harm them (Mark 16:17-18). For they were picking up serpents when the holy apostles, with the breath of their sacred mouth, were driving away spiritual wickedness from the hidden recesses of bodies, and they were not feeling the deadly poisons. Finally, when the viper leaped out of the branches and bit Paul, the Barbarians, seeing the viper hanging from his hand, thought that he would suddenly die. But he stood fearlessly, neither being moved by a wound, nor being immersed in poison. Therefore, seeing him, they thought that he was not born by the condition of a human, but rather brought forth by the grace of God, and considered him to be above humans. See the deer driving out vipers from its hiding places with the divine breath that was in its nostrils, as Job said (Job 27:3). Converted, Paul said in the spirit, and looking with grief, he said to the python: I command you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to immediately leave her. And at the same hour (Acts XVI, 18). See the deer when it comes to baptism, and, having been washed with the sacred font's blessed water, it rejects all the poisons of persecution. See the deer, the Lord Jesus, when He came to John the Baptist, and, in response to John saying to Him: 'I need to be baptized by You, and You come to me,' He replied: 'Allow it now' (Matthew III, 14 and 15). And having said this, thirsting for the salvation in the waters, He eagerly descended. But now enough for us in the beginning of the discourse, as the deer delighted the crowd at the start of the year in the usual way. Let us proceed to the rest.