Bonaventure

In his own words on Song of Solomon

• Song of Solomon 1:2

  The third hierarchizing is that of grace above nature and diligence. When the soul is lifted higher than itself, and, having emptied itself out, receives divine illuminations, it looks above itself to what has been given to it. And out of this, it rises, or is lifted up, to divine concerns. These three acts are reception, revelation, and union beyond which the mind does not reach. And it is in this that the whole Canticle consists: the chaste, chaster, and chastest receiving; the chaste, chaster, and chastest speculation; the chaste, chaster, and chastest union. And then will it be possible to say with this Canticle: "Let Him kiss me with kisses of His mouth!" Reception corresponds to the Thrones, revelation to the Cherubim, and union to the Seraphim.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 22

• Song of Solomon 1:3

  First there is the ointment of piety upon the head; afterwards it descends upon all others who draw near to the head. First there ought to be piety in prelates and superiors, and afterwards in the common people. Concerning this oil of piety it is said in the fourth book of Kings that a certain woman came to Elisha and said that her creditors wished to take her children. And Elisha said that she should bring all the vessels of her neighbors and pour some of that oil into each one, until all were filled. I say that the woman holds the type of the Church, and Elisha holds the type of Christ. When the Church is poor in merits and it is necessary that she repay the debt: by what means will she repay? She must fill the vessels of her neighbors. Do you wish the piety of mother Church to descend upon you? Fill the vessels of your neighbors. This oil of piety ought to be possessed by all. Whence in the Song of Songs: "Your name is oil poured out."

  Collationes de Septem Donis, Collation 3

• Song of Solomon 1:4

  Now, the fourth seal consists in this, that the soul perceives an incomprehensible consolation that grows so much within it that it is unable both to comprehend it and to explain it to others. The Canticle says of this: "Eat, friends; drink! Drink freely of love!" And this inebriated soul says: The king "brought me into the cellar of wine." And earlier: "The king hath brought me into his storerooms." This occurs when the soul is beside itself, like a drunken man who does not know what he is doing. Hence, Paul did not know whether he was in the body or out of the body.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 23

• Song of Solomon 1:4

  By which most fervent desire, in the manner of fire, our spirit is not only made agile for ascent, but also by a certain learned ignorance is rapt above itself into darkness and ecstasy, so that not only does it say with the bride: We will run in the fragrance of your ointments, but also sings with the Prophet: And the night is my illumination in my delights. Which nocturnal and delightful illumination no one knows except he who experiences it, nor does anyone experience it except through grace divinely given, nor is it given to anyone except to him who exercises himself toward it.

  Breviloquium, Part 5

• Song of Solomon 1:5

  The vegetation of the earth symbolizing Sacred Scripture is lovely. Even exterior roughness that gives nature a reputation of malformation is yet what makes it most beautiful. Hence the bride says: "I am as dark — but lovely." That is, lovely because dark.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 14

• Song of Solomon 1:10

  God's wisdom appears most beautifully in the mysteries of Scripture, even more than in the first manner. For if, so to speak, I wish to praise the bride in that she is pretty and truthful: if I simply say that she is pretty and truthful, my heart is not affected very deeply. But if I say: "Thy cheeks are beautiful as the turtle dove's, thy neck as jewels," I praise her marvelously, if only I understand. I praise her not only as being chaste and good, but as being chaste and loving because of her love for her spouse. For the turtle dove is a chaste and loving bird, since out of love for its mate, as long as the mate lives, it consorts with no other, but only after it dies. Hence the bride is good, not merely because she is chaste, but because she is chaste out of love for her spouse. Hence the cheeks are beautiful, for they are prominent and beauty appears in them. "Thy neck as jewels": the neck, through which the voice is emitted, stands for truth; the jewels, that adorn the breast and bind it, stand for discretion, for if one tells the truth at the wrong time, for the wrong reason, in the wrong place or to the wrong people, this is not beautiful truth.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 2

• Song of Solomon 2:3

  Now, there arises from these twelve enlightenments a threefold fruit. From the first four comes forth the fruit of grace, from the intermediate four, the fruit of righteousness, from the last four, the fruit of wisdom. This fruit is beautiful in the measure in which the intellect is sustained by it, and it is tasty in the measure in which the affective dispositions are fed by it. It touches upon this threefold fruit, meaning these enlightenments, in the sense that they produce nourishing food, in that this threefold fruit is from Christ. Hence, in the Canticle: "As an apple tree among the trees of the woods, so is my lover among men. I delight to rest in his shadow, and his fruit is sweet to my mouth."

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 18

• Song of Solomon 2:4

  Furthermore, this charity gives to the soul a fire. Hence, in the Canticle, "Set me as a seal on your heart... for stern as death is love," when it loves to such a degree that it is totally carried up to the supremely desirable, and sees prosperity as nothing, and adversity as nothing, since all things are like a single straw in a furnace. "If a man should give all the substance of his house for love, he shall despise it as nothing." Now, the fourth seal consists in this, that the soul perceives an incomprehensible consolation that grows so much within it that it is unable both to comprehend it and to explain it to others. The Canticle says of this: "Eat, friends; drink! Drink freely of love!" And this inebriated soul says: The king "brought me into the cellar of wine." And earlier: "The king hath brought me into his storerooms." This occurs when the soul is beside itself, like a drunken man who does not know what he is doing. Hence, Paul did not know whether he was in the body or out of the body. Of this seal, the Psalm says: "Shew me a token for good, that they who hate me may see, and be confounded."

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 23

• Song of Solomon 2:5

  In this garden, there is much walking about, for if one is not happy to remain in the first, he goes to the second, and likewise with the others. And so man is compassed about with apples. Hence, in the Canticle: "Stay me up with flowers, compass me about with apples." And in the Psalm: "His truth shall compass thee with a shield." And so, as the intellect is ordained toward the affective dispositions, and faith is the way to charity, so also these enlightenments must pass over into the affective dispositions, in order that the intellect pass from the speculative to the practical.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 18

• Song of Solomon 2:6

  When a worthy admission has come about together with a holy perception, then the soul is rapt in God, that is, in the beloved. Hence, in the Canticle: "His left hand is under my head and His right arm embraces me."

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 22

• Song of Solomon 2:7

  Then, in this union, the power of the soul is recollected, and it becomes more unified, and enters in its intimate self, and consequently it rises up to its summit: for according to Augustine, the intimate self and the summit are the same. It is of this summit that the Canticle speaks: "I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, that you stir not up nor awake my beloved, till she please."

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 2

• Song of Solomon 2:12

  Third, there is the production of prophets similar to the multiplication of flowers. It is said of them in the Canticle: "The flowers appear on the earth... and the song of the dove is heard." Flowers appeared when the prophet said: "A shoot shall sprout from the stump of Jesse, and from his roots a bud shall blossom." But the song of the dove was heard when it was said: "How lonely she is now, the once crowded city! Widowed is she who was mistress over nations." For the turtle moans instead of singing.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 14

• Song of Solomon 2:12

  It is necessary to chastize the roots of the passions, so that the opposing powers are cut off and neutralized. It is fitting that a man have the three opposite virtues: that he be submissive, chaste, and poor. In this way will the roots of the passions be pulled out. "The time of pruning has come," for they abound every day.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 22

• Song of Solomon 2:16

  When a worthy admission has come about together with a holy perception, then the soul is rapt in God, that is, in the beloved. "My Lover belongs to me and I to Him; He browses among the lilies," for the soul already feels the union and is made one spirit with God. And this is the highest thing in the soul: it makes it abide in heaven.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 22

• Song of Solomon 2:17

  Such are the three hierarchies which this Sun enlightens in a threefold manner. Hence, the sun, three times as much, burneth the mountains. These are the mountains of Bether, as explained in the Canticle: My lover, like a gazelle or a young stag, upon the mountains of Bether. And it is upon those very mountains that this Sun is sending out its first illuminations.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 21

• Song of Solomon 3:3

  In order to reach such a summit, it is good for us to be carried above every sense, every rational operation related to the imagination, even to dismiss the angelical intelligences, so that it may be said: "The watchmen came upon me as they made their rounds of the city: I had hardly left them when I found Him whom my heart loves." And this is what Dionysius teaches, to dismiss sensible and intellectual things, beings and non-beings—and by non-beings, he means temporal things because they are in a constant state of flux—thus to enter into the radiance of darkness. It is called darkness because it does not bear upon the intelligence, and yet the soul is supremely flooded with light. And because this cannot be had without prayer, Dionysius begins with prayer.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 2

• Song of Solomon 3:4

  In order to reach such a summit, it is good for us to be carried above every sense, every rational operation related to the imagination, even to dismiss the angelical intelligences, so that it may be said: "The watchmen came upon me as they made their rounds of the city: I had hardly left them when I found Him whom my heart loves." And this is what Dionysius teaches, to dismiss sensible and intellectual things, beings and non-beings—and by non-beings, he means temporal things because they are in a constant state of flux—thus to enter into the radiance of darkness. It is called darkness because it does not bear upon the intelligence, and yet the soul is supremely flooded with light.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 2

• Song of Solomon 3:5

  Concerning this hierarch, then, and the ecclesiastical hierarchy, the whole of sacred Scripture exists, through which we are taught to be purged, illumined, and perfected, and this according to the threefold law handed down in it, namely of nature, of Scripture, and of grace; or rather according to its threefold principal part, namely the Mosaic law which purges, the prophetic revelation which illumines, and the evangelical teaching which perfects; or most especially according to its threefold spiritual understanding: the tropological, which purges unto uprightness of life; the allegorical, which illumines unto clarity of understanding; the anagogical, which perfects through mental ecstasies and the sweetest perceptions of wisdom, according to the three aforesaid theological virtues and the reformed spiritual senses and the three above-mentioned ecstasies and the hierarchical acts of the mind, by which our mind returns to its interior, so that there it may contemplate God in the splendors of the Saints and in them as in resting-places may sleep in peace and rest, the Bridegroom adjuring that it not be awakened until it proceed of His will.

  Itinerarium Mentis in Deum, Chapter 4

• Song of Solomon 3:6

  When these senses have been recovered, while the soul sees and hears, smells, tastes, and embraces its spouse, it can sing as a bride the Song of Songs, which was composed for the exercise of contemplation according to this fourth degree, which no one grasps unless he receives it, because it consists more in affective experience than in rational consideration. For in this degree, when the interior senses have been restored to sense the supremely beautiful, to hear the supremely harmonious, to smell the supremely fragrant, to taste the supremely sweet, to apprehend the supremely delightful, the soul is disposed to mental transports, namely through devotion, admiration, and exultation, according to those three exclamations which are made in the Song of Songs. The first of these arises from the abundance of devotion, through which the soul becomes like a column of smoke from the aromatics of myrrh and frankincense; the second from the excellence of admiration, through which the soul becomes like the dawn, the moon, and the sun, according to the progression of illuminations that suspend the soul in admiration of the spouse contemplated; the third from the superabundance of exultation, through which the soul of most sweet pleasure, flowing with delights, leans entirely upon her beloved.

  Itinerarium Mentis in Deum, Chapter 4

• Song of Solomon 3:6

  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. Hence, it is not without reason that the alphabet is repeated so often.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 16

• Song of Solomon 3:6

  The third comparison between the Old and the New Testaments is related to a threefold division, for there is a time when the Synagogue was initiated, another when it was promoted, and yet another when it failed. Likewise, in the New Testament, there is a time when it was started, another when it was expanded, and yet another when it was consummated. Hence, in the Canticle the Church is praised three times, for it is one, nor is there nor can there be any other. The Church is praised when it was started: "What is this coming up from the desert, like a column of smoke?" When it was expanded: "Who is this that comes forth like the dawn, as beautiful as the moon, as resplendent as the sun?" When it was consummated: "Who is this coming up from the desert, flowing with delights, leaning upon her lover?" For it is necessary that Rachel give birth to her sons in the final Church. Hence, in the Apocalypse, Manasses is placed before his father, for he is in the sixth place, and Joseph in the twelfth, while Benjamin is in the last, and this is not without cause.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 15

• Song of Solomon 3:6

  Faith is a union of the Head with the body. The shining of light as related to faith is called allegory, and it is twofold, one directed to the Head and the other to the body. For there is one directed to the crucified Head, that was born, etc., and another directed to the body, that is, the Church, primitive, intermediate, and final. And Solomon praises the Church in this manner, according to its threefold state: "Who is she that cometh forth as the morning rising, fair as the moon, bright as the sun?" — "Who is she that goeth up by the desert, as a pillar of smoke of aromatic spices, of myrrh and frankincense?" — "Who is this that cometh up from the desert, flowing with delights, leaning upon her beloved?"

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 2

• Song of Solomon 3:7

  Without doubt Solomon wished to rest in her as in a secure place; but this could not be unless she were strong, because it is said in the Canticle that "sixty valiant ones surround the bed of Solomon." Solomon is interpreted as "the desirable king": sixty valiant ones surround his bed. The number sixty is perfect and arises from the multiplication of the number six by ten, and thus through it is signified the universality of works; or it arises from the multiplication of the number ten by the number six, and through it is signified the universality of the ten precepts of the decalogue. Insofar as one is strong and ready according to the dictates of the laws and precepts of the decalogue, then one is strong, such that one cannot be harmed from without.

  Collationes de Septem Donis, Collation 5

• Song of Solomon 3:9

  And he said: I have wanted to lead you to this "tree of life." "King Solomon hath made him a litter of the wood of Libanus. The pillars thereof he made of silver, the seat of gold, the going up of purple: the midst he covered with charity." The seat of gold is contemplative wisdom. And this no one has, except one who has the pillars of silver, which are the virtues buttressing the soul. The going up of purple is charity which makes [the soul] go up to the higher things and down to the lower.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 23

• Song of Solomon 3:10

  And he said: I have wanted to lead you to this "tree of life." "King Solomon hath made him a litter of the wood of Libanus. The pillars thereof he made of silver, the seat of gold, the going up of purple: the midst he covered with charity." The seat of gold is contemplative wisdom. And this no one has, except one who has the pillars of silver, which are the virtues buttressing the soul. The going up of purple is charity which makes [the soul] go up to the higher things and down to the lower.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 23

• Song of Solomon 3:11

  The blessed Virgin was crowned with this stone in the flesh: seeing in the flesh the glorified body of Christ, seeing in spirit his glorified soul, and in mind his Divinity. Christ was crowned first, and she afterward. Whence in the Canticle: "Go forth, daughters of Sion, and see king Solomon in the diadem with which his mother crowned him on the day of his espousals and on the day of the gladness of his heart," that is, in flesh and mind, because he first put on flesh, suffered, and afterward was glorified: and the whole Church was crowned through him.

  Collationes de Septem Donis, Collation 6

• Song of Solomon 4:2

  Where the words of Scripture signify things of creation, or the conduct of the Israelite people, there one should seek from another passage of Scripture what each thing signifies, and then derive its signification through words plainly signifying the truth of faith, or the uprightness of morals as well; as for example if it is said: The sheep bring forth twin offspring, one should show that sheep there signify human beings, and twin offspring the twofold charity.

  Breviloquium, Prologue

• Song of Solomon 4:4

  "Thy neck is as the tower of David, which is built with bulwarks: a thousand bucklers hang upon it, all the armor of valiant men." This was said to the bride or mother Church, whose neck is like the tower of David. It is called the neck, whence the doctrine of truth goes forth. The neck serves us for two things, namely, for receiving food and for expressing words. Thus mother Church is called the neck, because from her the doctrine of truth goes forth: whence it says: "a thousand bucklers hang upon it." Likewise, from her proceeds the universality of words for strengthening souls: whence it says: "all the armor of valiant men." There is nothing that avails for having spiritual fortitude that sacred Scripture does not set forth.

  Collationes de Septem Donis, Collation 5

• Song of Solomon 4:9

  It is not the intellect that can go in there, but the heart. Hence again in the Canticle: "You have ravished my heart, my sister, my bride; you have ravished my heart with one glance of your eyes"—for the heart reaches down into the depths of Christ—"with one hair of thy neck"—for the hair refers to the height of mental thoughts. And he affirms that this ascent comes about through the power and the strongest motion of the Holy Spirit.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 2

• Song of Solomon 4:11

  Sacred Scripture is a tongue, hence: "Sweetmeats and milk are under your tongue." This tongue enjoys the taste of food, wherefore these same Scriptures are compared to loaves of bread that nourish and are pleasant to the taste.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 12

• Song of Solomon 4:12

  But it is fitting that the seal of truth be impressed upon the soul, by which also the soul becomes "an enclosed garden, a fountain sealed." The first seal consists in its having the indissoluble bond of charity, which occurs when the soul loves in such a way that it says: "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or hunger," etc. Not that man could never fall away from charity, but when he does, that he never think of sinning. The second [seal] consists in this, that [the soul] has the irrevocable gift of divine charity, so that it loves everything God loves, both friends and enemies, both strangers and neighbors. Hence, "the charity of God is poured forth in our hearts." Through these means, then, the soul diffuses itself in order that it may love every good, and nothing but good.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 23

• Song of Solomon 4:12

  For the soul is a paradise in which Scripture is planted, and it has marvelous aspects of sweetness and beauty. Hence in the Canticle: My sister, my spouse is a garden enclosed, a garden enclosed, a fountain sealed up. Thy plants are a paradise of pomegranates. The soul is a garden in which there are sacramental mysteries and spiritual meanings, where a fountain of spiritual outpourings gushes forth, but it is enclosed, and the fountain is sealed up, for they are not visible to the impure, but to those whom God knows to be His. Eternal wisdom loves this garden and dwells around it. Hence in Ecclesiasticus: I, like the river Doryx, flowed out of paradise. This garden is watered by the One who plants all things: and whatever he did not plant will be rooted up. "Every plant that My heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up." And consequently, I said: I will water my garden of plants, and I will water abundantly the fruits of my meadow. For He waters by means of blood, with which He sprinkled the book and all the people; He also waters through the Holy Spirit flowing from Him. The Scripture has this flow and we find it there. Such are the trees beautiful to behold and sweet to feed upon because of the beauty and flavor of their fruits.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 17

• Song of Solomon 4:13

  For the soul is a paradise in which Scripture is planted, and it has marvelous aspects of sweetness and beauty. Hence in the Canticle: My sister, my spouse is a garden enclosed, a garden enclosed, a fountain sealed up. Thy plants are a paradise of pomegranates. The soul is a garden in which there are sacramental mysteries and spiritual meanings, where a fountain of spiritual outpourings gushes forth, but it is enclosed, and the fountain is sealed up, for they are not visible to the impure, but to those whom God knows to be His. Eternal wisdom loves this garden and dwells around it. Hence in Ecclesiasticus: I, like the river Doryx, flowed out of paradise. This garden is watered by the One who plants all things: and whatever he did not plant will be rooted up. "Every plant that My heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up." And consequently, I said: I will water my garden of plants, and I will water abundantly the fruits of my meadow. For He waters by means of blood, with which He sprinkled the book and all the people; He also waters through the Holy Spirit flowing from Him. The Scripture has this flow and we find it there. Such are the trees beautiful to behold and sweet to feed upon because of the beauty and flavor of their fruits.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 17

• Song of Solomon 5:1

  Furthermore, this charity gives to the soul a fire. Hence, in the Canticle, "Set me as a seal on your heart... for stern as death is love," when it loves to such a degree that it is totally carried up to the supremely desirable, and sees prosperity as nothing, and adversity as nothing, since all things are like a single straw in a furnace. "If a man should give all the substance of his house for love, he shall despise it as nothing." Now, the fourth seal consists in this, that the soul perceives an incomprehensible consolation that grows so much within it that it is unable both to comprehend it and to explain it to others. The Canticle says of this: "Eat, friends; drink! Drink freely of love!" And this inebriated soul says: The king "brought me into the cellar of wine." And earlier: "The king hath brought me into his storerooms." This occurs when the soul is beside itself, like a drunken man who does not know what he is doing. Hence, Paul did not know whether he was in the body or out of the body. Of this seal, the Psalm says: "Shew me a token for good, that they who hate me may see, and be confounded."

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 23

• Song of Solomon 5:2

  In this union the mind is joined to God, wherefore in a certain sense it sleeps, while in another it keeps vigil: "I was sleeping, but my heart kept vigil." Only the affective power keeps vigil and imposes silence upon all the other powers; then man becomes foreign to his senses: he is in ecstasy and hears "secret words that man may not repeat," because they are only in the heart. Hence, because nothing can be expressed unless it is conceived, or conceived unless it is understood, and here the intelligence does not speak: it follows that a man can hardly speak or explain anything.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 2

• Song of Solomon 5:16

  The fourth aspect of the zeal of wisdom is the elevation of desire. This gives worth to other endeavors, so that forgetting what is behind, we strain forward to what is before. "The wise man has eyes in his head. — The heart of a wise man is in his right hand." Now, the zeal of wisdom consists in this, that our endeavor be directed toward nothing but God who is "all delight." These four are difficult, unless they are preceded by a fourfold effort: then they are easy.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 19

• Song of Solomon 5:16

  When this peace has been attained, there necessarily follows a superabundant spiritual delight, and then the person is fit for contemplation and for the gazes and embraces of the Bridegroom and the Bride, which take place according to the spiritual senses, by which is seen the supreme beauty of Christ the Bridegroom under the aspect of Splendor: is heard the supreme harmony under the aspect of the Word: is tasted the supreme sweetness under the aspect of Wisdom, which comprehends both, namely the Word and the Splendor: is smelled the supreme fragrance under the aspect of the Word inspired in the heart; is clasped the supreme gentleness under the aspect of the Word incarnate, dwelling among us bodily and rendering himself palpable, kissable, and embraceable to us through the most ardent charity, which causes our mind to pass over through ecstasy and rapture from this world to the Father.

  Breviloquium, Part 5

• Song of Solomon 6:4

  For it is necessary that the hierarchized soul have levels corresponding to the Jerusalem which is above. For the soul is something great: the whole universe may be described in it. The soul is called "as lovely as Jerusalem," for it is likened to Jerusalem through the disposition of the hierarchical levels. For they are disposed in the soul in a threefold manner: in relation to ascent, to descent, and to the return to God.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 22

• Song of Solomon 6:4

  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 seven. For in order that this battle-line be perfectly and continuously fortified: since it consists of corruptible parts, it needs Sacraments that fortify, that raise up, and that renew: that fortify those who fight, that raise up those who fall, and that renew those who die. Now the Sacrament that fortifies either fortifies those entering, and thus it is baptism: or those standing firm, and thus it is confirmation: or those departing, and thus it is extreme unction. The Sacrament that raises up either raises up from a venial fall, and thus it is the Eucharist: or from a mortal fall, and thus it is penance. The Sacrament that renews either renews in spiritual being, and thus it is orders, whose function is to administer the Sacraments: or in natural being, and thus it is matrimony. Whence, since baptism is for those entering, confirmation for those fighting, the Eucharist for those recovering strength, penance for those rising again, extreme unction for those departing, orders for those introducing new soldiers, and matrimony for those preparing new soldiers; the sufficiency and order of the sacramental remedies and arms is evident from these.

  Breviloquium, Part 6

• Song of Solomon 6:5

  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.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 2

• Song of Solomon 6:8

  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.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 14

• Song of Solomon 6:10

  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."

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 18

• Song of Solomon 6:10

  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. Hence, it is not without reason that the alphabet is repeated so often.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 16

• Song of Solomon 6:10

  Concerning the second allegory, about the blessed Virgin Mary, it is said in the Psalm: "He has pitched a tent there for the sun." Wherefore she is "as beautiful as the moon, as resplendent as the sun, as awe-inspiring as bannered troops." Hence she is a vessel able to contain light: "The sun, an admirable instrument, the work of the most High — shining gloriously in the firmament of heaven."

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 13

• Song of Solomon 6:10

  When these senses have been recovered, while the soul sees and hears, smells, tastes, and embraces its spouse, it can sing as a bride the Song of Songs, which was composed for the exercise of contemplation according to this fourth degree, which no one grasps unless he receives it, because it consists more in affective experience than in rational consideration. For in this degree, when the interior senses have been restored to sense the supremely beautiful, to hear the supremely harmonious, to smell the supremely fragrant, to taste the supremely sweet, to apprehend the supremely delightful, the soul is disposed to mental transports, namely through devotion, admiration, and exultation, according to those three exclamations which are made in the Song of Songs. The first of these arises from the abundance of devotion, through which the soul becomes like a column of smoke from the aromatics of myrrh and frankincense; the second from the excellence of admiration, through which the soul becomes like the dawn, the moon, and the sun, according to the progression of illuminations that suspend the soul in admiration of the spouse contemplated; the third from the superabundance of exultation, through which the soul of most sweet pleasure, flowing with delights, leans entirely upon her beloved.

  Itinerarium Mentis in Deum, Chapter 4

• Song of Solomon 6:10

  The third comparison between the Old and the New Testaments is related to a threefold division, for there is a time when the Synagogue was initiated, another when it was promoted, and yet another when it failed. Likewise, in the New Testament, there is a time when it was started, another when it was expanded, and yet another when it was consummated. Hence, in the Canticle the Church is praised three times, for it is one, nor is there nor can there be any other. The Church is praised when it was started: "What is this coming up from the desert, like a column of smoke?" When it was expanded: "Who is this that comes forth like the dawn, as beautiful as the moon, as resplendent as the sun?" When it was consummated: "Who is this coming up from the desert, flowing with delights, leaning upon her lover?" For it is necessary that Rachel give birth to her sons in the final Church. Hence, in the Apocalypse, Manasses is placed before his father, for he is in the sixth place, and Joseph in the twelfth, while Benjamin is in the last, and this is not without cause.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 15

• Song of Solomon 6:10

  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 seven. For in order that this battle-line be perfectly and continuously fortified: since it consists of corruptible parts, it needs Sacraments that fortify, that raise up, and that renew: that fortify those who fight, that raise up those who fall, and that renew those who die. Now the Sacrament that fortifies either fortifies those entering, and thus it is baptism: or those standing firm, and thus it is confirmation: or those departing, and thus it is extreme unction. The Sacrament that raises up either raises up from a venial fall, and thus it is the Eucharist: or from a mortal fall, and thus it is penance. The Sacrament that renews either renews in spiritual being, and thus it is orders, whose function is to administer the Sacraments: or in natural being, and thus it is matrimony. Whence, since baptism is for those entering, confirmation for those fighting, the Eucharist for those recovering strength, penance for those rising again, extreme unction for those departing, orders for those introducing new soldiers, and matrimony for those preparing new soldiers; the sufficiency and order of the sacramental remedies and arms is evident from these.

  Breviloquium, Part 6

• Song of Solomon 6:10

  Faith is a union of the Head with the body. The shining of light as related to faith is called allegory, and it is twofold, one directed to the Head and the other to the body. For there is one directed to the crucified Head, that was born, etc., and another directed to the body, that is, the Church, primitive, intermediate, and final. And Solomon praises the Church in this manner, according to its threefold state: "Who is she that cometh forth as the morning rising, fair as the moon, bright as the sun?" — "Who is she that goeth up by the desert, as a pillar of smoke of aromatic spices, of myrrh and frankincense?" — "Who is this that cometh up from the desert, flowing with delights, leaning upon her beloved?"

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 2

• Song of Solomon 6:13

  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."

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 18

• Song of Solomon 8:5

  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. Hence, it is not without reason that the alphabet is repeated so often.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 16

• Song of Solomon 8:5

  The third comparison between the Old and the New Testaments is related to a threefold division, for there is a time when the Synagogue was initiated, another when it was promoted, and yet another when it failed. Likewise, in the New Testament, there is a time when it was started, another when it was expanded, and yet another when it was consummated. Hence, in the Canticle the Church is praised three times, for it is one, nor is there nor can there be any other. The Church is praised when it was started: "What is this coming up from the desert, like a column of smoke?" When it was expanded: "Who is this that comes forth like the dawn, as beautiful as the moon, as resplendent as the sun?" When it was consummated: "Who is this coming up from the desert, flowing with delights, leaning upon her lover?" For it is necessary that Rachel give birth to her sons in the final Church. Hence, in the Apocalypse, Manasses is placed before his father, for he is in the sixth place, and Joseph in the twelfth, while Benjamin is in the last, and this is not without cause.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 15

• Song of Solomon 8:5

  Faith is a union of the Head with the body. The shining of light as related to faith is called allegory, and it is twofold, one directed to the Head and the other to the body. For there is one directed to the crucified Head, that was born, etc., and another directed to the body, that is, the Church, primitive, intermediate, and final. And Solomon praises the Church in this manner, according to its threefold state: "Who is she that cometh forth as the morning rising, fair as the moon, bright as the sun?" — "Who is she that goeth up by the desert, as a pillar of smoke of aromatic spices, of myrrh and frankincense?" — "Who is this that cometh up from the desert, flowing with delights, leaning upon her beloved?"

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 2

• Song of Solomon 8:5

  When these senses have been recovered, while the soul sees and hears, smells, tastes, and embraces its spouse, it can sing as a bride the Song of Songs, which was composed for the exercise of contemplation according to this fourth degree, which no one grasps unless he receives it, because it consists more in affective experience than in rational consideration. For in this degree, when the interior senses have been restored to sense the supremely beautiful, to hear the supremely harmonious, to smell the supremely fragrant, to taste the supremely sweet, to apprehend the supremely delightful, the soul is disposed to mental transports, namely through devotion, admiration, and exultation, according to those three exclamations which are made in the Song of Songs. The first of these arises from the abundance of devotion, through which the soul becomes like a column of smoke from the aromatics of myrrh and frankincense; the second from the excellence of admiration, through which the soul becomes like the dawn, the moon, and the sun, according to the progression of illuminations that suspend the soul in admiration of the spouse contemplated; the third from the superabundance of exultation, through which the soul of most sweet pleasure, flowing with delights, leans entirely upon her beloved.

  Itinerarium Mentis in Deum, Chapter 4

• Song of Solomon 8:6

  Such love divides, puts to sleep, and lifts up. It divides, since it cuts away from any other love because of the single love for the Spouse; it puts to sleep and appeases all the powers and imposes silence; it lifts up, since it leads to God. And so man is as dead, wherefore it is said: "Love is strong as death," because it cuts away from all things. Man, then, must die of this love in order to be lifted up. Hence "no man sees Me and still lives." Then, in this union, the power of the soul is recollected, and it becomes more unified, and enters in its intimate self, and consequently it rises up to its summit: for according to Augustine, the intimate self and the summit are the same.

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 2

• Song of Solomon 8:6

  Furthermore, this charity gives to the soul a fire. Hence, in the Canticle, "Set me as a seal on your heart... for stern as death is love," when it loves to such a degree that it is totally carried up to the supremely desirable, and sees prosperity as nothing, and adversity as nothing, since all things are like a single straw in a furnace. "If a man should give all the substance of his house for love, he shall despise it as nothing." Now, the fourth seal consists in this, that the soul perceives an incomprehensible consolation that grows so much within it that it is unable both to comprehend it and to explain it to others. The Canticle says of this: "Eat, friends; drink! Drink freely of love!" And this inebriated soul says: The king "brought me into the cellar of wine." And earlier: "The king hath brought me into his storerooms." This occurs when the soul is beside itself, like a drunken man who does not know what he is doing. Hence, Paul did not know whether he was in the body or out of the body. Of this seal, the Psalm says: "Shew me a token for good, that they who hate me may see, and be confounded."

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 23

• Song of Solomon 8:6

  Fortitude is comparable to the power of fire. Hence the author of the Canticle, speaking of fortitude, says: "For love is strong as death, jealousy as hard as hell. The lamps thereof are fire and flames."

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 6

• Song of Solomon 8:6

  A person is disposed to the influx of the gift of fortitude through the inextinguishable fire of charity. Whence in the Song of Songs: "Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm: for love is strong as death, jealousy is hard as hell; its lamps are lamps of fire and flames; many waters could not extinguish charity." Do you think you can extinguish a burning furnace with a drop of water? Every power is like a drop of water in comparison to the loving soul. "Love is strong as death": death conquers all, and likewise love conquers all things. "Jealousy is hard as hell": hell does not release what it holds, and so charity conquers all things and holds them fast. Paul, what do you say about charity? "Who," he says, "shall separate me from the charity of God?" He answers: "Tribulation? or distress? or hunger? or nakedness? or danger? or persecution? or the sword?" And he says: "I am certain that neither death nor life nor things present nor things to come shall be able to separate me from the charity which is in Christ Jesus." This charity draws us to a celestial nature and does not permit any foreign impression upon us: of itself, it is perpetual; unless I give a bill of divorce, God will not take away his charity from us.

  Collationes de Septem Donis, Collation 5

• Song of Solomon 8:7

  As Augustine and Hugh maintain, this world is like a certain ring given by the bridegroom to the soul itself: but the bride can love the ring bestowed upon her by the bridegroom in two ways, namely, with chaste love and with adulterous love. Chaste love is that by which she loves the ring in memory of the bridegroom and on account of love for the bridegroom: adulterous, that by which she loves the ring more than the bridegroom: and the bridegroom cannot but regard this as evil. For just as love is twofold, so hatred or contempt is twofold, because "as often as one of the opposites is spoken of, so also the other." Contempt of the ring, as though it were a small and worthless gift, redounds to the bridegroom: but contempt of the ring, as though it be reckoned as nothing in comparison with the love of the bridegroom, this is to the glory of the bridegroom: and concerning this contempt it is said in Song of Songs, the last chapter: "If a man should give all the substance of his house for love, he shall despise it as nothing."

  Commentary on Ecclesiastes, Introductory Questions

• Song of Solomon 8:7

  Furthermore, this charity gives to the soul a fire. Hence, in the Canticle, "Set me as a seal on your heart... for stern as death is love," when it loves to such a degree that it is totally carried up to the supremely desirable, and sees prosperity as nothing, and adversity as nothing, since all things are like a single straw in a furnace. "If a man should give all the substance of his house for love, he shall despise it as nothing."

  Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 23

• Song of Solomon 8:7

  A person is disposed to the influx of the gift of fortitude through the inextinguishable fire of charity. "Many waters could not extinguish charity." Do you think you can extinguish a burning furnace with a drop of water? Every power is like a drop of water in comparison to the loving soul. "Love is strong as death": death conquers all, and likewise love conquers all things. "Jealousy is hard as hell": hell does not release what it holds, and so charity conquers all things and holds them fast. This charity draws us to a celestial nature and does not permit any foreign impression upon us: of itself, it is perpetual; unless I give a bill of divorce, God will not take away his charity from us.

  Collationes de Septem Donis, Collation 5