Chapter III.
With a perfect soul having renounced earthly things and tamed vices, it desires to kiss the Word: to whom God the Word pours Himself entirely. Delighted by this, it seeks to be drawn closer to Him; which the holy man, even the Church, also provides.
However, the perfect soul despises matter: it avoids and rejects everything excessive, mobile, and evil; it neither sees nor comes close to the corruption of any earthly stain: it directs itself towards divine things and flees earthly matter. But flight is not to leave the earth, but to be on earth, to hold onto justice and sobriety, to renounce vices, not to the uses of elements. It fled (On Penitence, Distinction 2, Chapter When they came to know, § It fled). David, holy in the sight of Saul, not so much to abandon the land, but to avoid the contagiousness of cruelty, ingratitude, and faithlessness. He fled while adhering to God, as he himself says: My soul clings to you (Ps. LXII, 9). He withdrew himself and cleansed himself from the vices of this world, elevating his soul like Isaac in the field, or (as others have it) walking freely. For he also shows that he is familiar with virtues, so that each person may walk in the innocence of their heart, not mingling with earthly vices, and may tread an irreproachable path with an untainted mind, and may not open any place within themselves to corruption.
Such was Isaac, as he awaited the arrival of Rebecca, preparing himself for spiritual union. For she came now endowed with heavenly mysteries: she came bringing with her great adornments of ear and hand; because she excels in hearing and works, the beauty of the Church, to which we rightly apply the verse: 'Be thou multiplied as the sand of the sea, and thy seed shall possess the gates of their enemies.' Therefore, O Church, adorned with this holy offspring, which thou hast gained from the enemy nations. But this can also be attributed to the soul, which governs the passions of the body and directs them to the duties of virtue, making conflicting movements obedient to itself. Therefore, just as the soul of the Patriarch saw the mystery of Christ and saw Rebecca coming with vessels of gold and silver, like the Church with the people of the nations, marveling at the beauty of the Word and His sacraments, it says: Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth (Song of Solomon 1:1). And Rebecca, seeing the true Isaac, that true joy, that true happiness, desires to kiss him.
8. The first step of the soul. So what is this: Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth? Consider either the Church, long waited for by the promise of the coming of the Lord through the prophets, suspended for many ages, or the soul, which, lifting itself up from the body, having cast off luxury and pleasures and carnal desires, and also freed from the cares of worldly vanities, longs for the divine infusion of his presence and the grace of his saving word, to be tortured because he comes late and to be afflicted; and therefore, as if wounded by his love, since she cannot bear his delays, she turns to the Father and asks him to send her the Word of God; and she declares the cause for which she is so impatient, saying: Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth. She seeks not just one kiss, but many kisses; so that she may be able to fulfill her desire. For what she loves, is not content with the scarcity of one kiss, but demands many, claims many; and thus she is accustomed to commend herself more to her beloved. Finally, she was proven in the Gospel in this way: because she did not cease, she said, to kiss my feet...and therefore her many sins were forgiven, because she loved much (Luke 7:45 and 47). Therefore, this soul also desires many kisses from the Word, in order to be illuminated by the light of divine knowledge. For this is indeed the kiss of the Word, namely, the light of sacred knowledge. For God the Word kisses us when he illuminates our heart, the very core of our spiritual being, with the light of divine knowledge, by which the soul, endowed with the pledge of marital charity, joyfully and exultantly declares: I have opened my mouth and breathed (Ps. 118:131). For the kiss is the means by which lovers cling to each other and enjoy the sweetness of inner grace. Through this kiss the soul is united to God the Word, by which the spirit of the one who kisses is poured into himself: just as those who kiss each other are not satisfied with a mere touching of lips, but seem to pour their own spirit into each other.
Therefore, showing not only the appearance of the Word and a certain countenance, but also loving all its inner depths, he adds to the grace of kisses: For your breasts are better than wine, and the scent of your ointments is above all aromatic spices (Song of Songs 1:2). She asked for a kiss: God the Word poured himself out to her entirely, and revealed his breasts to her, that is, his doctrines, and the teachings of his inner wisdom, and he filled the air with the sweet fragrance of his ointments. He says that, once captured, there is a more abundant delight in divine knowledge than in the joy of all bodily pleasure. Indeed, he desires in the Word the fragrance of grace and the forgiveness of sins, which, poured out throughout the whole world, has filled everything like an emptied ointment. For through all, the heavy flood of vices has been washed away.
10. Therefore, he says, the young girls loved you. Draw us, so that we may run after the fragrance of your ointments (Ibid., 2 and 3). Indeed, there is good wisdom, but sweet mercy. Few attain the former, while the latter reaches everyone. Because of this, he says, souls renewed by the spirit love you. Hence, it is also said to the soul: Your youth will be renewed like the eagle's (Ps. 103:5). For he was speaking to the soul, saying: Bless the Lord, O my soul (Ibid., 1). And therefore it hurries to the Word, and asks to be drawn, lest it be left behind; for the Word of God runs and is not hindered. Finally, it leaps like a giant to run the way. And because its going forth is from the highest heaven, and its course is to the highest heaven, seeing itself unequal to such speed, it says: Draw us. O good soul, which prays not only for itself, but for all. Draw us, it says. For we have the desire to follow, which the grace of your ointments inspires us with: but since we cannot equal your course, draw us, so that supported by your help, we may be able to follow in your footsteps. For if you draw near, we will also run and we will capture the breaths of spiritual swiftness. For the burden is laid down by which your hand is supported, and your oil is poured out, by which he who was wounded by thieves is healed. And lest it seem impudent to you that he says: Draw us, listen to him saying: Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will refresh you (Matthew 11:28). You see that he gladly draws us, so that we do not remain behind. But whoever wants to be drawn, let him run to comprehend; and let him run forgetting the things that are behind, and desiring those things that are before; for in this way he will be able to comprehend Christ. Therefore, the Apostle also says: Run in such a way that you may all comprehend (1 Corinthians 9:24). He wants to attain those rewards that he desires to comprehend. Therefore, he prudently asks to be drawn, because not everyone can follow. Finally, when Peter said, 'Where are you going?' the Word of God answered, 'You cannot follow me now, but you will follow later' (John 13:36). He entrusted the keys of the kingdom of heaven to her and considered her equal by following him. However, he did not delay this soul; because she did not presume, but she asked.