Song of Solomon 6 · The Lantern

Where is your loved one gone, O most fair among women? Where is your loved one turned away, that we may go looking for him with you?

My loved one is gone down into his garden, to the beds of spices, to take food in the gardens, and to get lilies.

I am for my loved one, and my loved one is for me; he takes food among the lilies.

So long as Christ wishes there to be one church of all nations, whoever is a stranger to the church is not considered a part of the body of Christ, even though he uses the name of Christian.

The Beloved descends into his garden to the bed of spices, because in visiting the Church, he comes with greater grace to those whom he knows to send forth from themselves to their neighbors the fragrance of good reputation through holy works and examples of virtues. He feeds in the gardens when he delights in the virtues of many souls.

Moreover, the Bride has spoken more rightly, and not putting forward merit but setting forth the benefit first, and confessing that she has been preceded by the grace of the beloved. Rightly indeed. For "who has first given to him, and it shall be recompensed to him?" (Rom 11:35.) Finally, hear John, what he perceived in his Epistle on this matter.

You are beautiful, O my love, as Tirzah, as fair as Jerusalem; you are to be feared like an army with flags.

He who was spoiled by the soldiers, who was wounded by the spear, that he might heal us by the blood of his sacred wounds, will assuredly answer you (for he is meek and lowly of heart, and gentle in aspect): "Arise, O north wind, and come, O south, and blow upon my garden, that my spices may flow out." For from all parts of the world has the perfume of holy religion increased,…

It should be noted, indeed, that the Synagogue will one day be converted to the faith through the preaching of the Church, so that, denying itself, it will follow Christ alone, and will love Christ with the same desire with which the Church loves him, whom she loves alone above all others.

Since there can be no perfect cure without the conservation of the health that has been introduced; and the health that has been introduced cannot be conserved in the conflict of battle except in the battle-line of the Church, which is terrible as an army set in array; and this indeed comes about through the armor of sevenfold grace: hence it is that the Sacraments must be seve…

Let your eyes be turned away from me; see, they have overcome me; your hair is as a flock of goats which take their rest on the side of Gilead.

A goat is honored because its thick coat provides an image of beauty for the bride. Another reason for praise is that a goat can pass over rocks with a sure foot, agilely turn on mountain peaks, courageously pass through difficult, rough places, and can go safely on the road of virtue.

Turn your eyes away from me, etc. As if it were openly said, "Indeed, I have given you dovelike eyes, by which you might know the secrets of the Scriptures, by which you might distinguish virtues from vices, by which you might know the paths of righteousness through which you would still come. But beware lest you seek to turn those same eyes to see me as well.

The mind cannot see it with intellectual eyes, and so they must be turned away. Hence it is said in the Canticle: "Turn away thy eyes from me, for they have made me flee away." For Christ goes away when the mind attempts to behold this wisdom through intellectual eyes; since it is not the intellect that can go in there, but the heart.

Your teeth are like a flock of sheep which come up from the washing; every one has two lambs, and there is not one without young.

Separated from the world, to which they were once conformed, they pass over into the members of the church. And rightly therefore are they, through whom such things are done, called teeth like to shorn sheep; for they have laid aside the burdens of earthly cares, and coming up from the bath, from the washing away of the filth of the world by the sacrament of baptism, every one…

All lambs of twin births, etc. For all the sheep with which the bride's teeth are arranged are multiplied by twin births, because every speech of the elect is fruitful with the twin love, that is, the love by which God and neighbor are loved; every speech talks about the perpetual health of mind and body; every speech is accustomed to fortify its listeners through the arms of j…

Like pomegranate fruit are the sides of your head under your veil.

There are sixty queens, and eighty servant-wives, and young girls without number.

Scripture recounts that some of the patriarchs had many wives at the same time; others took other wives when previous wives had died. The purpose of this is to indicate figuratively that some can exercise many virtues at the same time; others cannot begin those which follow before they have brought the former virtues to perfection.

In the present verse, therefore, three orders of merit are indicated to be in the church according to the following enigma. First, clearly, there are teachers, living an immaculate life.

Solomon represents Christ, except in the women in whom there is no good that can have symbolical meaning. Hence, when it is said in the Canticle: "There are sixty queens, eighty concubines, and maidens without number," this does not refer literally to wives: these women are placed here in a mysterious fashion, and they represent perfect and imperfect souls.

My dove, my very beautiful one, is but one; she is the only one of her mother, she is the dearest one of her who gave her birth. The daughters saw her, and gave her a blessing; yes, the queens and the servant-wives, and they gave her praises.

This one church is also intended in the Song of Songs, when the Holy Spirit says, in the person of the Lord: "My dove, my perfect one, is but one; she is the only one of her mother, the choice one of her that bare her." Can one who does not keep this unity of the church believe that he keeps the faith?

"For as regards the fact that to preserve the figure of unity the Lord gave the power to Peter that whatsoever he should loose on earth should be loosed," it is clear that that unity is also described as one dove without fault.

Contemplate what a glory is hers who compares herself to heaven, even to that heaven who is so much more glorious as he is divine. This is no rashness, taking her comparison from whence her origin comes.

Who is she, looking down as the morning light, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, who is to be feared like an army with flags?

The church is the sun and the moon and the stars, to which it was said, "Fair as the moon, bright as the sun." By it our Joseph is adored in this world as in Egypt, when he is raised from humble to high estate.

You are rightly compared with this figure since you raise your precious head over all races, and you transmit the souls of the just like resplendent stars to the kingdom above.

Again, there is a comparison of times three by three, as of the origin, promotion and fall of the Synagogue; and in the Church, the times of its beginning, expansion, and consummation. Hence, in the Canticle, there are three expressions of wonder: "Who is this," etc. in praise of the Church, and, by contrast, three expressions of sorrow in the Lamentations.

I went down into the garden of nuts to see the green plants of the valley, and to see if the vine was in bud, and the pomegranate-trees were in flower.

Before I was conscious of it,...

Come back, come back, O Shulammite; come back, come back, so that our eyes may see you. What will you see in the Shulammite? A sword-dance.

Turn to us, O peaceful soul, that you may show your glory to your sisters and that they may begin to console themselves with the security of your repose and happiness. Turn to us once only, that we may see you, and turn again and hasten with all speed to that great Jerusalem, the city of the saints.

For camps indeed belong to those who wage war. Camps, therefore, will be seen in the Shunammite, because for the faith which she now attacks, she will then fight valiantly against the faithless.

These four fruits come forth in an orderly manner. Consideration in a direct line through the help of the citizens of heaven disposes toward the first act of wisdom, seen to be "as awe-inspiring as bannered troops" and the "companies of the camps."

Song of Solomon6