Robert of Tombelaine

In his own words on Song of Solomon

• Song of Solomon 1:9

  All who serve lust, who serve pride, who serve greed, who serve envy, who serve deceit, are still under the chariot of Pharaoh, that is, under the rule of the devil; but everyone who is fervent in humility, in chastity, in teaching, in charity, has already become a horse of our Creator, has already been placed in the chariot of God, already has God as his rider. Whence to a certain one over whom the Lord presided, it is said: "It is hard for you to kick against the goad" (Acts 9:5). As if he were saying: You are my horse; you can no longer kick against me; I already preside over you. Of these horses it is said elsewhere: "You sent your horses into the sea, stirring up many waters" (Habakkuk 3:15). God therefore has chariots, because he presides over holy souls and travels everywhere through holy souls. Whence it is written: "The chariots of God are ten thousand, the manifold thousands of those rejoicing in the Lord" (Psalm 67:18). Pharaoh has chariots, which nevertheless were submerged in the Red Sea, because many wicked people have been changed through baptism. Let the Bridegroom therefore say: "I have compared you, my beloved, to my cavalry among the chariots of Pharaoh"; that is, while you were still among the chariots of Pharaoh, while you still served demonic works, I compared you to my cavalry, because I considered what I had done in you through predestination, and I compared you to my horses. For God sees many still serving lust, still serving greed, and yet he considers in his secret judgment what he has already worked in them, because God has horses — but he sees that many are still horses of Pharaoh. And because he considers by hidden judgment and hidden predestination that they are to be changed for the good, he already regards them as similar to his own horses, because he sees that he will lead to his own chariot those who previously served in the chariot of Pharaoh. Here the hidden judgments must be considered, because many seem through preaching, through wisdom, through chastity, through generosity, through patience to be horses of God, and yet by the hidden judgment of God they are likened to the horses of Pharaoh; and many seem through greed, through pride, through envy, through lust to be horses of Pharaoh, and yet by the hidden judgment of God they are likened to the horses of God. Because he sees those turning from good things to evil, and these being brought back from evil things to good. Therefore, just as by discernment many who seem to be horses of God are horses of Pharaoh through the reprobate life that follows them, so through piety many who seem to be horses of Pharaoh, his elect through the holy life which they will preserve at their end, are likened to the horses of God. Whence the Bridegroom speaks tenderly and says: "I have compared you, my beloved, to my cavalry among the chariots of Pharaoh." That is, you were still serving in subjection among the chariots of Pharaoh, you were running under vices, but I considered what I had done concerning you through predestination. "I have compared you to my cavalry," that is, I regarded you as similar to my elect.

  Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 1

• Song of Solomon 1:10

  The turtledove, after it has once lost its mate, never joins itself to another, but always dwelling in solitude perseveres in mourning; because not finding the one it loved, it searches. So every holy soul, while it is absent from its Bridegroom, does not withdraw from love of him, but always pants and groans in desire for him; and while it does not find him whom it greatly loves, because it draws itself back from every foreign love, as if in the modesty of its cheeks it shows the chastity of its heart by its very bearing and outward conduct. There follows: 'Your neck is like jewels.' By the neck of the bride, the preachers of holy Church are designated. In jewels, gems are set in gold. By gold, indeed, wisdom is expressed; by stones, works. The neck of the bride therefore is like jewels; because every upright preacher of the Church both clothes himself inwardly with wisdom and outwardly exercises the works which he sees in wisdom.

  Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 1

• Song of Solomon 1:11

  Little chains are bound as necklaces around the neck; because both wisdom and devotion are joined to preachers from the Holy Scriptures; for by the little chains, Holy Scripture is understood. These are rightly said to be golden and inlaid with silver; because Holy Scripture shines with wisdom, and is heard throughout the world through resounding preaching. For just as wisdom is signified by gold, so holy preaching is signified by silver.

  Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 1

• Song of Solomon 1:12

  The king then entered his couch, when our Lord Jesus Christ bodily penetrated the interior of heaven. While he rested there, the nard of the bride gave forth its fragrance; because the virtue of the holy Church spread the sweet fame of its goodness far and wide. For the Lord ascended to heaven and sent his Holy Spirit upon the disciples (Acts II); filled with whom, they preached the words of salvation to the world, and through holy works spread the fame of good fragrance all around. Indeed, each faithful soul receives this Spirit in baptism, so that through him it may compose for itself ointments from the preparation of virtues, and refresh its neighbors by the display of example, as if by the fragrance of ointment.

  Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 1

• Song of Solomon 1:13

  The bodies of the dead are customarily preserved with myrrh, lest they putrefy. Indeed, we apply myrrh to bodies lest they putrefy, when we restrain our members from the corruption of lust through their mortification after Christ's example; lest, if we leave them without seasoning, our bodies, dissolved by corruption, become food for eternal worms. But what does it mean that the bride calls her beloved not myrrh, but a bundle of myrrh, unless that when the holy mind considers Christ's life from every angle, it gathers together from the imitation of him virtues that fight against all vices; from which it fashions for itself a bundle, by which it may wipe away the everlasting corruption of its flesh? This bundle is rightly said to dwell between the breasts, because in the love of God and neighbor the holy dwelling place of Christ is built. For when the holy soul so loves God that it does not despise the neighbor, and so carries out love of neighbor that it does not diminish the divine, without doubt it places breasts upon its chest with which, embracing Christ, it nourishes him. For Christ is, as it were, nourished and strengthened by the breasts, when he is delighted by this twofold love so that he clings more firmly.

  Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 1

• Song of Solomon 1:14

  Cyprus is an island in which more abundant vineyards grow than elsewhere. Therefore by Cyprus the universal Church is designated, which nourishes many vineyards, since divided into many churches, it produces the wine that gladdens the heart of man. Engaddi is interpreted as "fountain of the kid." Now the kid was anciently sacrificed for sins. What therefore is figured by the fountain of the kid if not the baptism of Christ? In which, while the body is immersed, the soul is washed clean; and through the faith of him who endured death for sinners, the human soul believes itself to be cleansed from all sins.

  Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 1

• Song of Solomon 1:15

  The Bridegroom calls His bride beautiful twice, because to her whom He grants love of God and of neighbor, He implants a twofold beauty, in which He delights and which He praises. Her eyes are rightly said to be those of doves, because while she groans amid temporal things and is carried away by desire toward eternal things, she guards her senses in simplicity and detests carnal desires. For the dove moans in love instead of singing. And rightly is the holy soul compared to a dove, because while all the reprobate chatter and rejoice in love of the world, the elect mind is worn away in heavenly desire, because it fears lest it lose what it loves while it is delayed. By the eyes of doves can also be understood the preachers of the Churches, who preserve the simplicity they preach, and despising visible things, pant after eternal things with great groans.

  Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 1

• Song of Solomon 1:16

  The beloved is called beautiful and comely, because in both his divinity and humanity he is beheld without any stain of reproach by every mind that loves him. While the bride follows him with full desire, she forgets all the disturbances of the world; and while she rests in his peace, she is adorned more and more. Whence follows: "Our bed is flourishing." What do we understand by the bed of the bride, if not the repose of quiet? For the mind that loves its bridegroom Christ uniquely, inasmuch as it is able, is free from all the anxieties of the world, and accumulates within itself the virtues by which it may please its Bridegroom. While it despises all things that are temporal, it makes for itself a bed with the Bridegroom in the peace of victory, where the more quietly it rests, the more abundantly it finds flowers with which to show itself beautiful to the Bridegroom.

  Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 1

• Song of Solomon 1:17

  "The beams of our houses are of cedar, our paneled ceilings are of cypress." By the houses, we understand the many churches; by the cedar beams, we designate the preachers; by the cypress paneling, we represent the peoples themselves. For beams support the roof, while paneled ceilings fill and adorn the house. Just so in the holy Church, good preachers carry divine Scripture in their heart and on their lips, which they spread out and preach to the faithful; so that while the Church is instructed by heavenly preaching, it may receive a defense by which it is protected from the storms of temptations. Moreover, cedar and cypress are said to be woods that do not decay. By these all the elect are fittingly represented; because while they pursue temporal things with no desire, they become eternal, inasmuch as they are fixed in mind upon eternal things.

  Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 1

• Song of Solomon 2:1

  Well does Christ call himself a flower, who, while he destroys the thorns of sins, adorns the mind of the bride with the beauty of his righteousness, and while he applies heavenly desire to the nostrils of the heart, refreshes the interior of the soul as if with fragrance.

  Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 2

• Song of Solomon 2:2

  Well, just as the lily among thorns, so the bride is said to be among the daughters; because while there are many in the Church who confess Christ with words alone, yet in their works pursue nothing but human concerns, that soul alone is counted worthy of the lily's dignity which rises from the root of mortality to heavenly beauty, and guards for itself the brightness of purity in heart and body, and refreshes all its neighbors with the fragrance of a good reputation. But because the Bridegroom held his bride worthy of such great praise, she now in turn rightly praises him by whom she perceives herself to be praised.

  Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 2

• Song of Solomon 2:3

  Wild trees do not produce fruits suitable for human consumption; but what the apple tree produces, people eat fittingly and healthfully. Rightly, therefore, Christ is figured by the apple tree, while other people are figured by the wild trees; because in Christ alone, whenever we seek the food of salvation, we find it; in His words and examples we refresh our souls with sweet and wholesome fruit. He Himself is indeed the tree of life, which He bestows upon us. He Himself is the one who, while breathing Himself into us, feeds the soul. But if we find any refreshment in others, we receive from them not what is theirs, but what is Christ's; because whatever in them is apart from God, we find without doubt to be deadly to us. The shadow of Christ is the protection of the Holy Spirit. For the Holy Spirit overshadows the mind that it fills, because it tempers all the heat of temptations; and while the breeze of its inspiration gently touches the mind, it expels whatever harmful heat it was enduring; and the mind which perhaps the excessive heat of vices had already made withered, the protecting shadow of the Holy Spirit refreshes, so that while it sits resting in his inspiration, it gathers strength by which to run more vigorously toward eternal life. There follows: 'And his fruit was sweet to my throat.' For Christ himself, planted in the heart, stands as a fruit-bearing tree; which if our mind worthily loves and earnestly cultivates, it assuredly produces beautiful and useful fruits within. When the mind, seizing these, eagerly eats them, it sets aside all the pleasures of the world in comparison with his sweetness. For it is very sweet to think upon heavenly things, to fix the inward eye upon eternity, so that sometimes even amid weeping the enkindled mind is pierced with compunction, and, lifted up amid tears, is fed upon the food of angels — that is, wisdom itself — and the more sweetly, the more eagerly it is nourished.

  Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 2

• Song of Solomon 2:4

  For what do we more fittingly understand by the wine cellar than the hidden contemplation of eternity itself? In this eternity the holy angels are inebriated with the wine of wisdom, while seeing God himself face to face, they are satisfied with every spiritual delight. The holy mind, if it is led in by the bridegroom (all temporal things having been set aside), enters this cellar, in which it tastes of those angelic delights as much as is granted to it. And because it is still held in a corruptible body, it does not perfectly satisfy itself; yet from that small amount which it takes in passing, it considers how much it ought to love what it loves. The wine cellar can also, however, be understood as a figure of divine Scripture. For through it, charity is ordered in the bride, because in its teaching it is clearly learned how God and neighbor are to be loved in proper order.

  Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 2

• Song of Solomon 2:5

  By the tender and budding flowers, the beginning faithful are designated, but by the apples, the perfect faithful. For the Bride, because she languishes with love, desires to be supported with flowers and surrounded with apples, because while she afflicts herself with longing for eternity, while she seeks with total anxiety how she might arrive there, but does not at all find the arrival while she lives in the flesh, she rests, wearied in her desire, and rejoices in this alone: if she sees around her those by whom she herself, or in whose perfection, she might perceive consolation for her languishing.

  Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 2

• Song of Solomon 2:6

  By the left hand of the bridegroom the present life is signified, and by the right hand the eternal life. By the head of the bride, moreover, the mind that rules over the soul is understood. But the left hand of the bridegroom is said to be under the head of the bride, and his right hand embraces her, because she always places the temporal life beneath her mind, but desires to embrace the eternal life in every way. For those things which she sees, she tramples with greatness of soul and a lofty mind, and occupies herself with heavenly duties. She endures the former out of necessity, but for the latter she sighs with utmost desire, as if bound by the right arm of the bridegroom. When she enters into these things even a little, she rests delightfully, and out of love for that rest she utterly despises worldly tumults. The bridegroom surely loves her all the more as she rests thus, and drives away all the wicked from disturbing her.

  Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 2

• Song of Solomon 2:7

  Deer and goats are said to be clean animals in the law. What then do we understand by deer and goats, if not faith, hope, and charity? While we keep these clean within ourselves, through them we ascend the high mountains of contemplation. But the holy soul, the bride of Christ, desires to rest from all the disturbances of the world; she longs to sleep in holy leisure in the bosom of the bridegroom, with earthly desires lulled to rest, so that she sometimes even disdains necessary conversations, and rejoices in the conversation of the bridegroom alone all the more serenely the more quietly it takes place. But the carnal ones who are in the Church sometimes rudely awaken her as she sleeps; they desire to entangle her in the affairs of the world, because they consider her life useless when they see her abstaining from their cares. Such people are quite fittingly called not sons but daughters, because while they nurture effeminate habits, having lost manly dignity, what they are inwardly is outwardly designated by a feminine name. These are forbidden under the weight of an oath to awaken the beloved, lest they disturb the mind that girds itself to be free for God and longs to cling to spiritual pursuits alone with importunate anxieties, and cloud the eye of her heart with the darkness of earthly cares. And yet not all care for her neighbor is forbidden to her, but when she ought to be awakened is left to her own will, because indeed every perfect soul must discern both when to devote herself to heavenly contemplation and when to serve the needs of her neighbors.

  Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 2

• Song of Solomon 2:8

  As if she were saying: I recognize this to be the voice of my beloved spouse; I desire always to hear this from his mouth, because in this I see how much he loves me, since he forbids anything to hinder me from his desirable embraces. How she arrived at these embraces she suddenly narrates, saying: Behold, he comes leaping upon the mountains, bounding over the hills. Christ, arranging to come to the embraces of his bride, graciously assumed our humanity. To accomplish this mystery, he came as if leaping upon the mountains, because he displayed certain works among men which the human race, perceiving them to be exceedingly sublime and beyond human capacity, could admire but could not attain. For he was born of a virgin; an angel urged the shepherds to go and adore the crying infant; a star led the magi; hanging on the cross, he gave up his spirit at the hour he willed; dead, he raised himself on the third day; entering heaven, he bestowed the Holy Spirit on those whom he pleased; through fishermen and unlettered men he subjected the world to his faith — doing these things, he walked as it were upon the mountains, where no creature was able to follow him. In these works, indeed, he bounded over the hills, because he transcended all the saints, however much they may have grown, by the power of his working.

  Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 2

• Song of Solomon 2:9

  He is rightly said to be like a roe, because he drew his flesh from the Synagogue, which is signified by the roe. And because he was begotten from the stock of the ancient saints, he is rightly declared to be as it were a young hart of the stags. Christ incarnate stood, as it were, behind our wall, because in the humanity he assumed, his divinity lay hidden. And because if he were to reveal his immensity, human weakness could not endure it, he set before himself the barrier of flesh, and whatever great things he accomplished among men, he did as one hiding behind a wall. Now he who looks through windows and lattices is partly seen, but partly conceals himself. So also the Lord Jesus Christ, while he both performed miracles through the power of his divinity and endured lowly things through the weakness of his flesh, looked forth as it were through the window and lattices, because while hiding in one nature, in the other he revealed who he was. Therefore, incarnate, he speaks to his Church, or to each perfect soul, and exhorts her toward the eternal homeland.

  Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 2

• Song of Solomon 2:10

  On account of faith, Christ calls his bride his friend; a dove on account of simplicity; beautiful on account of her works. For since without faith we cannot please God, rightly through faith we are called friends, because while by faith we seek heavenly things, having cast aside earthly things, we cling to God. The soul is rightly called a dove on account of simplicity, because while it searches for the simple God with simplicity of heart, it by no means pursues in dissoluteness the foolish joy of the world, but always hastening toward eternal things, it lovingly imitates the groaning of the dove. The soul is rightly called beautiful on account of her works, because while she redeems the sins of her past life through good works, she hides, as it were, her former ugliness by assuming a better form before the eyes of the Bridegroom. Therefore the Bridegroom exhorts her to arise and come, because it is fitting that whoever hastens to the love of Christ should cast off the sluggishness of the flesh as much as he can, and gird himself quickly to attain eternal things.

  Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 2

• Song of Solomon 2:11

  What is to be understood by winter, if not the austerity of the law? Which, while it held the ancient people in carnal sacrifices, did not help its observers to seek spiritual and heavenly things. We can also understand by winter the present life, which, while it assails us with constant temptations, compels us to grow sluggish in following Christ, as if by relentless rains. But let the bride now arise, because the winter has passed, since the more the last day presses near, the more the present life recedes, and the more time is drawn toward its end, the more quickly one must run, lest the chosen soul be deprived of the eternal gifts offered to it. For it is said to have "passed" because it is not doubted that it is about to pass away shortly.

  Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 2

• Song of Solomon 2:12

  The flowers are said to have appeared on the earth, because when holy souls depart from their bodies, they are received in heaven. And because in this life, although it was winter, they did not grow sluggish from good work, as soon as they departed, they gloriously flourished in the land of the living. Rightly therefore follows what he says: The time of pruning has arrived, because the more the number of the elect is gathered in heaven, the more quickly the reprobate are cut off from the Church like useless branches, so that the world may end more swiftly. What is designated by the turtledove, if not the Church; what by the land of the bridegroom, if not that blessed life? But the voice of the turtledove is said to have been heard in the land of the bridegroom, because while the holy Church prays for what it desires, it is most mercifully heard by Christ in heaven.

  Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 2

• Song of Solomon 2:13

  For the fig tree put forth its green figs, because the holy Church sent its martyrs ahead to the eternal homeland. After whom the flowering vines gave their fragrance, because throughout the whole world examples of good works increased. The vines indeed produce flowers when the individual churches lead souls previously unbelieving to the newness of faith through baptism. But the flowers themselves bring forth fragrance when believing souls spread good examples to one another and to others through a sweet reputation. But because Christ draws us by both modes of exhortation — namely, that he both admonishes us by precepts and raises us up by the examples of the saints — therefore he first commanded his bride by admonishing her to arise, and then brought the examples of the saints to her knowledge, and after the presentation of examples he again turned to the admonition of precept. The soul rises when it lifts itself from the commission of sin; it comes when through good works it advances with the holy steps of holy desire toward heavenly things. For when a holy mind beholds the shameful deeds of its past life, when it counts up the sins it has committed, it soon blushes with shame within its own conscience, and turning to hatred everything it had loved in the world, it punishes itself with tears, and made stronger by that very repentance, it leaps free from every defilement and shakes itself loose from all the sluggishness of negligence, so that it no longer lies prostrate in base thoughts but stretches itself out through holy desires toward the longing for invisible things. This mind, therefore, rises and comes, because it both lifts itself from the weakness of torpor through compunction and, exercising itself in holy pursuits, runs toward eternal things on the feet of love.

  Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 2

• Song of Solomon 2:14

  By the holes of the rock, moreover, I would gladly understand the wounds of the hands and feet of Christ hanging on the cross. And the cavity of the wall I would interpret in the same sense as the wound in his side made by the lance. And rightly is the dove said to be in the holes of the rock and in the cavity of the wall, because while it imitates the patience of Christ in the remembrance of the cross, while it recalls those very wounds to memory for the sake of example, just as a dove in the holes of a rock, so the simple soul finds in the wounds the nourishment by which it grows strong. Nevertheless, by the holes of the rock can be signified the mysteries of Christ's incarnation, and by the cavity of the wall can be figured the very protection of angelic guardianship. For what do we understand by the face, except the faith by which we are known by God? And what do we understand by the voice, except preaching? But the bridegroom commands the bride to show him her face, because whoever says he has faith must necessarily exercise himself in good works, so that through outward works the interior faith may become known. But it is also necessary that the voice of preaching follow the works, because whoever expands himself in holy works, it follows that he should exhort all his neighbors to do the same. Therefore it follows: 'For your voice is sweet, and your face is beautiful.' For the voice pleases and the face is made beautiful when preaching accompanies works, and in turn good works accompany preaching.

  Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 2

• Song of Solomon 2:15

  By the foxes, heretics are designated; by the vineyards, individual Churches. But the foxes destroy the vineyards, because through heretics the Churches are dried up from the greenness of right faith. They are rightly called "little," because although they are inwardly puffed up against the truth, outwardly they pursue humility in their words through pretense. They are then caught by holy preachers when, in the course of disputation, they are refuted by the judgments of truth. Indeed, holy preachers are sometimes called dogs by way of comparison, because through their constant preaching, as if by relentless barking, they strive to drive all adversaries away from the flock of sheep. These dogs catch the foxes for Christ, because while they faithfully love their leader, laboring for love of him, they lead the evasive heretics out from the entanglements of their questions, as if from dark dens into the light of truth. The reason the destruction wrought by the foxes is to be feared is made clear when it says: 'For our vineyard has flourished.' The vineyard has indeed flourished, because the holy Church through baptism has brought her children to a new manner of life in the faith. For these there is reason to fear lest they be corrupted by heretics, because when any believers are regenerated into the newness of Christ, the more tender each one is, the more quickly he is seduced into error. There is every reason to fear for the blossoms, lest they perish, because while anyone has not yet grown strong toward perfection through long practice, if he is bitten by a venomous tooth, he easily fades from what he had attained. For every perfected soul does not easily lose what it has long exercised itself in, because the more frequently it has tasted with its innermost palate how sweet the Lord is, the more steadfastly it holds to the righteousness of the bridegroom and spurns what is crooked.

  Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 2

• Song of Solomon 2:16

  As if she were saying: I hold firmly to the friendship of my beloved, because I feel his constant goodwill toward me. For while I have his kind intimacy, whatever I hear from barking enemies against him is grievous to me. And while in his constant presence I see what he is like, if adversaries bring forth any error, I do not depart from the truth that I have come to know in the sight of him. About which there well follows: 'Who feeds among the lilies, until the day breathes and the shadows decline.' What is signified by lilies, if not souls? Which, while they retain the brightness of chastity, smell sweetly to all their neighbors through the reputation of good fame. The bridegroom therefore feeds among the lilies, because without doubt he is delighted by the chastity of souls, which both preserve purity of the flesh in themselves, and please him through pure thoughts in his presence, and give examples to their neighbors like the sweetness of fragrance.

  Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 2

• Song of Solomon 2:17

  The day will then breathe, and the shadows will decline, when eternal life appears and the present life comes to an end. For that will be day, but here is night; because here we are dim in our vision, but there the day itself, which is the whole truth, will shine forth to our minds. Toward this day souls earnestly strive to arrive; for its sake they preserve justice unstained as much as they can; and because without Christ they can do nothing, they invoke his help and desire his intimacy. While he considers their mind, he is near and kindly helps them, and the more they advance, the more intimately he always loves them, until, when the darkness of the world is ended, he leads them, now made perfect, to the light of eternal life. Because they greatly desire this light and believe it will be seen when the Lord comes to judgment, therefore with the greatest desire they say: The Beloved departed from us bodily when after the resurrection he ascended into heaven. But he will return when, at the end of the world, with the bodies of men having been raised, he will be manifested to all in judgment. He will truly appear like a gazelle and a young stag, because coming in our flesh to judgment, he will show himself to all. For by the gazelle, which is a clean animal, the Church is designated, which while it dwells in mind among heavenly things, feeds as it were upon the mountains. And by the deer, what else is designated but the ancient fathers, from whose flesh Christ was born and presented to the world as a young stag? Now Bethel is interpreted as "house of God." Which is rightly called the Church of God, because the Lord dwells in it, while our hearts are cleansed through faith. Therefore upon the mountains of Bethel he will appear like a gazelle and a young stag, because he will come to judgment in that form of humanity which he took from the Church, when in this world he was born humbly from the lineage of the fathers, like a fawn from deer. He will truly appear both like a gazelle and upon the mountains of Bethel, because in his human form he will be like the Church, and yet he will stand forth more sublimely in the Church above even the highest ones, who rise up like mountains.

  Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 2

• Song of Solomon 3:1

  The holy soul makes a bed for itself through the nights, when, fleeing all the disturbances of the world, it prepares a secret place in which it rests. In this bed it seeks the one it loves, because while it is free from all the anxieties of the world, it does not rest in its search for how it might reach him. It should be noted, moreover, that the one who now lives in this world seeks through the nights, and perfectly shakes off from itself the darkness of temporality. The more heavily it suffers these darknesses, the more fervently it seeks him, upon finding whom it will no longer suffer darkness. But because it never perfectly finds the one it seeks in this world, it therefore adds: "I sought him and did not find him."

  Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 3

• Song of Solomon 3:2

  Because indeed it burns with the greatest desire, and whatever it holds does not suffice, until it finds the beloved, it therefore adds the constancy of its searching. What do we understand by the city in this place, if not the Church; what by the streets of the city, if not all those who are spiritual? While they walk toward the Church with their whole heart, they hold to the narrow way by which they are led to life. By the broad ways, however, the worldly are designated, who, while they follow their many pleasures, walk along wide roads. The bride therefore rises and goes about the city, because the perfect soul that despises visible things contemplates in her mind all the saints who are or have been in the Church, to see whether perhaps she may find something in their deeds that, by imitating, she might at some point arrive at the finding of the bridegroom. She searches through the streets and through the broad ways, because while she strives to reach the intimate embraces of the beloved through the imitation of the good, she sometimes finds not only in spiritual persons but even in carnal ones something that she can worthily imitate. But after she has indicated her twofold labor, she again adds the difficulty of finding, saying: "I sought him, and I did not find him." But while she seeks and does not find, she herself is also sought and found.

  Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 3

• Song of Solomon 3:3

  What is designated by the watchmen, if not the teachers of the Church? For while they keep watch through writings and words for the sake of winning souls, whenever they perceive even a little desire, they never cease to increase it toward something better. These find the bride seeking, because they receive the devout soul striving to find Christ, and so that she may find him more quickly, they instruct her with precepts and kindle her with examples. Questioning them, she says: "Have you seen him whom my soul loves?" The bride is rightly said to question them, because while she searches through their writings or words with a watchful mind, speaking as if to those present even though absent through the attention of her soul, she inquires what they have understood concerning Christ. But because while she fixes her attention on them, she never finds the bridegroom, she consequently adds:

  Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 3

• Song of Solomon 3:4

  She passes the watchmen a little way and finds her beloved, because while she considers them to be mere men, she raises her mind to the divinity, and there recognizes her bridegroom as equal to the Father, above men. She says she then found him when, aided by holy labors, she fixes the eye of faith somewhat upon the brightness of his divinity, as if contemplating through a mirror. How eagerly of mind she receives that small portion, she shows by saying: "I held him and will not let him go, until I bring him into the house of my mother, and into the chamber of her who bore me." The Mother of the Church was the Synagogue, because from her she received the holy preachers, from whom she accepted the word of truth, through which she was reborn in faith. The Church therefore holds fast to the Bridegroom until she brings him into the house of her mother, because until the end of the world she does not withdraw from faith in him and love of him, until she leads the Jews to faith. Not that she withdraws afterward; for him whom she loves in exile, she will love even more when she sees him in the homeland. But this had to be said concerning that time about which some could have doubted on account of opposing temptations. She will therefore bring the Beloved into the house of her mother when at the end of the world the Church, through preaching, introduces the Christian sacraments into the Jewish people. She will bring him into the bedchamber, as into the more secret part of the house, because from that same people she will convert so many that they will cast off all the burdens of the world and desire in their innermost thoughts to please God alone. Such people will make a bedchamber for the Bridegroom, because when they cast away from themselves all the filth of cupidity, they will prepare, as it were, a secret place in the mind in which he may take delight.

  Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 3

• Song of Solomon 3:5

  Resting delightfully among them, free from their disturbance, the Bridegroom forbids the wicked, saying: "I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles and the deer of the fields, do not stir up nor awaken the beloved until she herself wills it." In this, certainly, he shows that after her conversion he will find some from the Synagogue of the same perfection as very many from the Church, since he takes equal delight in their rest and forbids any disturber from them, just as he forbade it from the Church.

  Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 3

• Song of Solomon 3:6

  The Synagogue, therefore, having been brought to the faith, beholds the mind of the Church through the works she sees, and greatly admiring her sublimity, says: "Who is this that cometh out of the wilderness like pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all powders of the merchant?" Therefore in the desert, that is, in this world, the Church, or every holy soul, lives while, exiled from the kingdom, it dwells among beasts, namely demons. For here, although she is not entirely abandoned by the bridegroom, nevertheless while she is in the flesh, she is not yet admitted to the certain vision of him; while she wanders from him through exiles and temptations, because while she does not yet reign with him, she seems to herself to be abandoned by him. On this account she always labors to ascend, so that she may sense him whom she greatly loves more and more, so that since she does not perfectly possess him in the desert, she may at least refresh herself in the very desire for him, so that thus strengthened on the way, she may at some time arrive at that which she has long desired. For there are some who, while they disdain all visible things, raise their minds to heavenly things, and because they see nothing among lowly things that might be sweet to them, turn their whole heart to things above. These strip themselves of all evil habits, despise the wealth of the world along with its desires, reach out in hope toward invisible things, and the greater the desire with which they cling to those things, the more and more painfully they bear the corruption they possess. These indeed ascend through the desert, because while they live in this world among temptations, the more they fear being abandoned while they remain here, the more strongly indeed they abandon these things, and the more fervently they advance toward those things in which, once they have arrived, they will no longer fear anything that might remove them. But fittingly they are said to ascend like a column of smoke, because they are said to possess both the fragrance of good reputation and subtlety of mind. This smoke, however, is not said to be of just any substances, but is declared to come from the spices of myrrh and frankincense and every powder of the perfumer. For with myrrh the bodies of the dead are embalmed lest they decay, while frankincense is burned so that it may give off fragrance. By myrrh, therefore, the mortification of the flesh is signified; by frankincense, the purity of prayers is understood. The holy soul, therefore, while it mortifies its flesh from the decay of vices, while it renounces all the pleasures of the world through continence, as it were applies myrrh to the body that will die, so that after the judgment it may remain whole from eternal corruption. But when it kindles itself toward heavenly things with greater desire, and fervently casts out from the chamber of the heart all superfluous thoughts, it makes its heart, as it were, a censer before God. In this, while it gathers virtues through love, it arranges, as it were, coals in the censer, in which the mind may set itself aflame in the sight of God with the fire of charity. And while it sends forth fervent and pure prayers to God, it draws out, as it were, the smoke of spices from the censer, so that it may smell sweetly before the beloved, and may not cease to stir up all its neighbors to love of him through good examples. But it should be noted that it does not say "of every perfume," but "of every powder of the perfumer." For we make perfumes when we gather virtues in the heart. But when we more carefully examine our very virtues through each and every work, lest anything in our works remain unrefined, lest a vice lie hidden among the virtues, then without doubt we grind the ointments of virtues, as it were, into powder, so that our works may be the purer, the more carefully we do not cease to distinguish them from every encroachment of vices. Minds of this kind make themselves delightful to their beloved through his grace, and while they separate themselves from all worldly noise, they prepare within themselves a place in which the bridegroom may rest. Concerning this rest, it is added:

  Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 3

• Song of Solomon 3:7

  Solomon is interpreted as "the peaceful one." What then is understood by Solomon, if not Christ, of whom it is written: "He himself is our peace, who made both one" (Ephesians 2:14)? We therefore make a bed for Solomon when we cease entirely from the anxieties of the world, when we willingly rest in the desire of Christ alone, and cleanse our heart from every earthly desire so that he may rest with us. Now if the number ten is multiplied by six, sixty is of course completed. By ten, therefore, we understand the Decalogue of the law; by six, however, we understand this entire time which we see revolving in six working days. By the sixty mighty ones, therefore, we understand all the perfect who were before us in the Church; who, since they fulfilled the ten precepts of the law in the six days all the more strongly as they did so more spiritually, completed, as it were, the number sixty. These surround the bed of Solomon, because they fortify the holy mind in which Christ rests with their words and examples, by which they repel enemies coming to the entrance of the mind, while they sustain that mind by their examples and instruct it by their writings.

  Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 3

• Song of Solomon 3:8

  These hold swords and stand forth most learned in warfare, because while they fulfill the word of God in deed, what they know in their heart, ever more and more learned, they conquer their enemy — namely, the devil — by wisdom and strength. For by the sword, the word of God is signified, and by the hands with which they hold the swords, their very deeds are represented. Of these it is well added: "Every man's sword upon his thigh, because of fears in the night." What do we understand by the sword, if not the rigor of their way of life; and what by the thigh, if not the appetite of the flesh? Therefore all the elect who have already advanced to the perfection of life always carry a sword upon their thigh, because by the rigor of their way of life they continually break the appetite of the flesh, lest the enemy whom they fear in the night of this world, coming suddenly, should find a soft entrance, and through the softness of pleasure should lead them to graver sins all the more easily the more pleasure-seeking he finds them. Concerning the praise of Solomon, it is further added:

  Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 3

• Song of Solomon 3:9

  The timbers of Lebanon are declared to be imperishable. Therefore King Solomon made himself a litter from the timbers of Lebanon, because, according to the grace of His foreknowledge, Christ built the holy Church from saints who would endure forever.

  Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 3

• Song of Solomon 3:10

  He made its columns of silver, because He gave preachers to that same Church, whom He strengthened with the great uprightness of justice so that they might sustain it by their examples, and adorned with the brilliance of eloquence, as with the splendor of silver, so that they might instruct through their preaching. He made a golden reclining seat, because when He shone forth in the hearts of the perfect, He showed them the power of His divinity through contemplation. In which contemplation, when He displayed to them the beauty of heavenly joys, He composed, as it were, a reclining seat of gold, because He provided a place in which they might rest and be refreshed. This reclining seat is rightly said to be golden, because wisdom is better than all riches, and all things that are desired cannot be compared to it (Prov. 8:11). This reclining seat is reached through many labors, ascended through many tribulations, so that, if necessary, even the shedding of blood is permitted. Therefore the ascent is rightly said to be purple. For when the holy martyrs handed over their bodies to torments for the sake of eternal life, when they patiently endured scourges, the rack, fires, swords, and other innumerable tortures, did they not ascend to that reclining seat, that is, to the blessed life, by a purple ascent? But what are we wretches doing, who are not silver columns in this litter, because we neither sustain the holy Church by our examples nor teach by our preaching? We do not have a golden reclining seat in it, because, entangled in earthly thoughts, we do not rise up through contemplation to the splendor of wisdom. We do not even know the purple ascent, because, devoted to pleasures, we refuse to bear labors and persecutions for eternal blessedness. We are somewhat consoled by what follows concerning this litter: He paved the middle with love, for the daughters of Jerusalem. For what do we understand by the daughters of Jerusalem, since he said not sons but daughters, except us weak ones, who in the Church are not men but women, because we do not struggle bravely against vices, do not resist manfully, but submit in womanly fashion? For Jerusalem is interpreted as "vision of peace," by which the Church, which is our mother, is designated, because she continually contemplates perpetual peace. If, therefore, we are not silver columns in the King's litter, if we do not have a golden reclining seat, if we cannot ascend by the purple ascent, let us at least hold fast to love, which is common to all the elect and placed, as it were, in the middle. Through this, indeed, King Solomon recognizes us as being in his litter, because in it, along with the silver columns, along with the golden reclining seat, along with the purple ascent, he also paved the middle with love for the daughters of Jerusalem, because we arrive at the same blessedness of the Bridegroom together with the members of the Church, if we maintain unwearied love. There follows:

  Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 3

• Song of Solomon 3:11

  The blessed Mary, Mother of Christ, is believed to be she who crowned him with a diadem, because he himself assumed our humanity from her, as is recounted in the Gospel (Matt. 1). And this is said to have taken place on the day of his betrothal and on the day of the gladness of his heart, because when the only-begotten Son of God wished to unite his divinity to our humanity, when by his good will he was pleased to take his Church to himself at the appointed time, then with the exultation of love he willed to take on our flesh from the Virgin Mother. Living in her with sufferings for a time, he rejoiced exceedingly over our redemption. But since a diadem is assumed for glory, while in the taking on of humanity not glory but humility of the Word of God is recognized, how is he said to have been crowned with our humanity as with a diadem? Yet since his very incarnation was truly our glory—because we are his members through the communion of the body—Scripture rightly foretold the diadem of the members upon the head. Here, therefore, because he is praised by the bride, he in turn deigns to praise the bride, saying:

  Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 3

• Song of Solomon 4:1

  If by the eyes the preachers of the Church are designated, because they show the way to the rest, then by the hair the peoples are fittingly signified, because they bestow adornment upon the same Church. The hair of the bride is therefore said to be like a flock of goats, because the peoples of the Church, while ruminating on the precepts of the law and contemplating heavenly things by faith, are clean animals and graze on the heights. Now Gilead is interpreted as "heap of testimony." And what do we understand by a heap of testimony, if not the multitude of martyrs? For while they held the faith of Christ unconquerably, we know that they bore testimony to the truth even through their own death. And so that flock of goats ascends from Mount Gilead, because the people of the Church raise themselves by faith toward eternal things all the more, the more firmly they have known that the holy martyrs bore testimony to that same faith.

  Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 4

• Song of Solomon 4:1

  Because we have explained these things above (Chapter 2, n. 35), as best we could, we now avoid repeating the same things for the sake of preserving brevity. But because there is added 'Apart from what lies hidden within', we must briefly consider how it is connected with what precedes. The bride is therefore beautiful, and her eyes are those of doves, apart from what lies hidden within, because whatever she does in outward things is very honorable: that she lives simply among people, that she disdains to desire the things she sees in this temporal world, and if anything in this world nevertheless pleases her, she abhors going after her desires. But it is far more beautiful and honorable that she strives to keep the desire of her heart unstained, that she holds in her mind the brightness of eternal blessedness and gazes upon it with uplifted contemplation, that in those things which she sees within she sweetly rests and is purified.

  Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 4

• Song of Solomon 4:2

  Just as by the eyes preachers are understood, because through them the Church is illuminated, so likewise they can be called her teeth, because through them unbelievers are consumed and little ones are nourished. Indeed, holy preachers are rightly called teeth, because when they elucidate Holy Scripture by expounding it to the lesser brethren, they chew bread, as it were, for the little ones, like mothers for their children, so that the weak may grow strong for harder fare. These are rightly said to be like a flock of shorn ewes that have come up from the washing, because when they remember that they were washed from all sins in baptism, they willingly lay down the burdens of the world, so that they may advance toward attaining and preaching heavenly things all the more freely and easily. Of these it is added: All bearing twins, and there is no barren one among them. All holy preachers bear twin offspring, because while they surpass other people in the two precepts of charity, they preach the twofold love, and in it they do not cease to beget two peoples, Jewish and Gentile. Among them none is barren, because indeed one who disdains to beget spiritual children is not to be called a preacher.

  Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 4

• Song of Solomon 4:3

  These same preachers are called the lips of the Church, because through them she speaks the precepts of life to the peoples. They are fittingly compared to a ribbon, because while they restrain loose thoughts in the hearts of men by their preaching, they hold back, as it were, scattered hairs lest they spread out excessively. But what does it mean that they are compared not merely to a ribbon, but to a scarlet one, unless that by scarlet is understood the flame of charity, with which they burn, and through them others are kindled? Through them the speech of holy Church is sweetened, because while they practice what they preach, they set before men their preaching as if it were savory food.

  Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 4

• Song of Solomon 4:3

  What do we understand by the cheeks of the Church, if not those same preachers who, while they stand out among the peoples so as to benefit them, appear as if visible upon the face of the Church? By the pomegranate, moreover, the Church itself is signified, because while it nourishes many peoples in the unity of faith, it binds together, as it were, many seeds under one rind. The holy preachers are therefore a piece of pomegranate, because while they afflict themselves as seeds more vigorously than others in divine service, while they despise all worldly things, while they deny their own pleasures and utterly mortify their vices, and elevate others, and while they nourish others through their examples, they offer themselves as food, as if broken open and laid bare. But although the things that appear outwardly are great, they nevertheless retain greater things in secret, which the divine eyes alone see. Therefore it is added: Apart from what lies hidden within.

  Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 4

• Song of Solomon 4:4

  For we stretch out the neck when we wish to see farther ahead. Therefore the holy preachers are fittingly called eyes for one reason, teeth for another, cheeks for yet another, and the neck for still another. Rightly, then, the neck of holy Church is said to be like the tower of David, because the holy preachers watch from afar the enemies approaching holy Church, and they resist mightily if any try to harm the Church, and, freely despising earthly things, they contemplate heavenly things. They are called the neck, therefore, on account of watching for enemies, and a tower on account of their strength and on account of the lofty contemplation of heavenly joys. This tower is rightly said to be David's, because David is interpreted as "strong of hand," by which Christ is signified, whose is whatever works with strength and loftiness. Of this it is added: 'Which is built with battlements; a thousand shields hang from it, all the armor of the mighty.' The tower of David is said to be built with battlements because the holy preachers are armed with miracles against hostile men, if need be. Against vices, however, they fortify themselves with shields, because lest they succumb to spiritual enemies, they defend themselves with virtues. On them hangs all the armor of the mighty, because whoever wishes to resist strongly the battalions of enemies sees in them examples by which he is able to vigorously overcome armed foes. A thousand here stands for perfection, because in the number one thousand all perfect numbers are completed.

  Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 4

• Song of Solomon 4:5

  By the two breasts, two orders of preachers are designated: one in circumcision, the other in uncircumcision. They are fittingly called like two fawns of a doe, because they are children of the Synagogue and feed on the mountains of contemplation. They are called twins because they preach in harmony and think in harmony. They feed among the lilies until the day breathes and the shadows decline, because they pursue purity tirelessly until on the day of judgment they receive the rewards which they continually contemplate during the labors of the night.

  Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 4

• Song of Solomon 4:6

  What do we understand by the mountain of myrrh, if not the strong height of mortification in work, and what by the hill of frankincense, if not the lofty humility in prayer? The bridegroom therefore goes to the mountain of myrrh and to the hill of frankincense, because he intimately visits those whom he perceives to be advancing to great heights through the mortification of vices and to be giving off a sweet fragrance through pure and humble prayers. For by these virtues the holy Church, or each individual soul, is made clean, because while she struggles against vices through the mortification of pleasures, and is frequently washed with tears through holy prayers, she cleanses away her stains so that she may please the bridegroom, before whom she strives to appear beautiful. The bridegroom through his grace brings her striving to its fulfillment, and kindly praises his own work in the bride.

  Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 4

• Song of Solomon 4:7

  Since it is written: "No one lives without sin, not even an infant whose life is of one day upon the earth" (Job 24:4, according to the Septuagint), what does it mean that the bride is said to be entirely beautiful, in whom no blemish is found? For elsewhere it is written: "The stars are not pure in his sight" (Job 25:5). And elsewhere: "In many things we all offend" (James 3:2). And the apostle John says: "If we say that we have no sin, the truth is not in us" (1 John 1:8). And likewise: "If we say that we do not sin, we lie, and do not practice the truth" (ibid. 6). But when the holy soul cleanses itself from daily sins through repentance, when it daily washes away minor sins with tears and guards itself from greater ones, although it sins frequently, nevertheless through constant repentance it continually preserves its purity. For this reason it is commanded elsewhere: "Let your garments always be white" (Ecclesiastes 9:8). And that saying: "The just man lives by faith" (Romans 1:17). For although as soon as he sins he strays from justice, yet since he always believes in him who justifies the ungodly, and continually bewails his sins under that faith, through constant washings he retains his righteousness.

  Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 4

• Song of Solomon 4:8

  What is understood by Amana, Sanir, and Hermon, namely the names of mountains, if not the powerful of this age? The wealthier they are, the more exalted and stronger they appear to be among the weak. But from these mountains holy Church is crowned, because while she preaches the eternal kingdom, while by her own example she demonstrates that all things of the world are worthless, she bends even the powerful themselves to repentance, and prepares for herself a crown in the heavens for seeking them out. Thus indeed it happens that the humble cast down the proud, and the weak bring low the exalted. Therefore it is written: "Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low" (Isa. 40:4). But what does it mean that she is said to be crowned not only from the mountains but also from the peaks of the mountains, except what we see fulfilled — that already the most exalted persons themselves believe in Christ and obey His precepts through the preaching of the Church? For kings and emperors serve Christ, lay down their crowns, and through repentance seek pardon in the Church. If therefore by the peaks of the mountains we understand the highest persons, rightly by the dens of lions and the mountains of leopards are designated the various princes and ministers who serve cruelty and deceive by their cunning those whom they cannot harm by force. Leopards indeed always carry spots on their skin — by whom are signified any other than hypocrites or the quarrelsome? For in those who pursue credulity, demons recline as lions. In those, however, they build mountains as leopards, whom, while they permit them to mix certain virtues with their vices, they compel to seek the glory of praise for all their good deeds. These therefore truly imitate the variety of leopards, because while they pursue vices along with virtues, they are divided as if by dissimilarity of color on a mottled hide. But from the dens of lions and from the mountains of leopards the Church is crowned, because while through her preaching both the cruel are converted to piety and hypocrites to the unity of a humble life, for all these she will receive the reward she deserves.

  Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 4

• Song of Solomon 4:8

  For Lebanon is interpreted as "whitening." What then is understood by Lebanon if not baptism, in which holy Church is washed with water and is whitened from the blackness of sins through the Holy Spirit whom she receives and through faith in Christ? Whence it is written: "You will sprinkle me, Lord, with hyssop, and I shall be cleansed" (Psalm 50:9). From Lebanon, therefore, holy Church comes to the crown, because in Christ's baptism she receives faith, under which by Christ's grace she merits to be able to receive the reward. But what does it mean that "Come" is said three times, unless that whatever she works subsists in faith and in hope and in charity, so that fortified by these three virtues she may have the strength by which she does not grow weary on the way? For concerning faith it is said: "Cleansing their hearts by faith" (Acts 15:9). And again: "Without faith it is impossible to please God" (Hebrews 11:6). Concerning hope it is said: "None who hope in you, Lord, shall be confounded. For who has hoped in you and been forsaken?" (Sirach 2:11–12). Concerning charity it is said: "Charity covers a multitude of sins" (1 Peter 4:8). And again: "If I distribute all my goods to feed the poor, and if I hand over my body so that I burn, but have not charity, I am nothing" (1 Corinthians 13:3). And the apostle John: "God is charity" (1 John 4:16). However, it can also be understood in another way that "Come" is said three times. For the holy bride comes to Christ while living in this world she works whatever good she can. She comes when at the hour of death the soul, that is the bride herself, is stripped from the flesh. She comes a third time when on the day of the last judgment she takes up the flesh again and enters the heavenly bridal chamber with Christ. There indeed she obtains the rewards of all her labors; there, with her enemies now utterly cast down and shut out, she is gloriously crowned. And therefore here it is said to her by way of promise: "You shall be crowned from the top of Amana, from the summit of Senir and Hermon, from the dens of lions, from the mountains of leopards."

  Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 4

• Song of Solomon 4:9

  By the eyes of the bride, the preachers of the holy Church are designated, as has been said; by the hair, the multitude of the people is figured; by the neck, moreover, the joining of the holy head and body is shown, which is understood as the faith of the Church. For through this faith the head and body are joined, since each person clings to Christ all the more tenaciously, the more faithful he is held to be in good conduct. Therefore the bridegroom is wounded by one of the eyes and by one hair of the bride's neck, because indeed he is afflicted even to the death of the cross, so that the unity of preachers and people in the Church might be confirmed.

  Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 4

• Song of Solomon 4:10

  What is more fittingly understood by the breasts in this place than the very love of God and neighbor, about which we spoke above? Through these the holy mind nourishes all its senses in love, while it is bound to its God by the tenacity of charity, and freely bestows upon its neighbors whatever benefit it has, whenever it is permitted. How much the bridegroom loves these breasts of the bride, he openly shows in the repetition of praise.

  Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 4

• Song of Solomon 4:10

  What we said above concerning the breasts of the bridegroom, we consider can also be understood here when he speaks of the bride. 'And the fragrance of your ointments is above all spices.' By ointments, indeed, are understood those very virtues which arise from charity. For even the reprobate sometimes possess spices with which they give off fragrance, because they possess certain virtues and perform good works; but because they live without charity, nothing they do is pleasing in the sight of God. Hence at the judgment, when they shall say: 'Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' (Matt. 7:22), it shall be answered to them: 'I never knew you; depart from me, all you workers of iniquity.' Rightly, therefore, the ointments of the Church are said to give off fragrance above all spices, because even though the works of the reprobate sometimes please men, those which holy Church prepares from charity give off fragrance in the divine nostrils without ceasing.

  Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 4

• Song of Solomon 4:11

  To whom it is well said: "And the fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of frankincense." What is designated by these garments, if not holy works, by which the shame of preceding evils is covered, lest it be seen? For hence it is written: "Blessed is he who watches and keeps his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his shame" (Rev. 16:15). Frankincense, moreover, is placed by signification for prayer, as it is written: "Let my prayer ascend like incense in your sight" (Ps. 141:2). The holy soul therefore, in this world, performs as many good works as it can, and while working well, stretches itself toward eternal things with holy desire and intention; nor does it do any good except with that intention, that it might at some time be able to arrive at the heavenly things which it loves. Rightly therefore the fragrance of its garments is said to be like that of frankincense, because in all its works it prays, while with the intention of arriving there, it performs whatever good works it can.

  Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 4

• Song of Solomon 4:11

  The preachers of the Church are rightly said to be the lips of the bride, because through them she speaks to the peoples, and through them the little ones are instructed in the faith, since through them the hidden things of divine Scripture, as if secrets of the heart, are made manifest. Now in a honeycomb, the honey lies hidden and the wax is seen. Rightly, therefore, the lips of the bride are called a honeycomb, because when great wisdom is held in the frailty of the flesh, honey is, as it were, hidden in wax. But when any one of the elect preaches, when he reveals heavenly joys to those who do not know them, then the honeycomb drips, because he makes manifest to his hearers through the frailty of the mouth how great a sweetness of wisdom lies hidden in the heart. Whence it is written: "We have this treasure in earthen vessels" (1 Cor. 4:7). Therefore it is added: "Honey and milk are under your tongue." To be sure, false preachers carry honey on their tongue which they do not have under their tongue, because they sometimes preach heavenly joys as though they were genuine, while they themselves desire earthly goods with all their longings. But the holy mind displays honey on its tongue, because it shows the sweetness of wisdom by speaking, and by preaching truthfully, it refreshes its hearers as if with the sweetness of honey. It bears milk, because with teaching suited to them it nourishes all the little ones in the Church. But all these things it reserves for itself under its tongue, because it carries its inner sweetness constantly within. For while it casts aside earthly things, while it rejects the bitterness of vices, it feeds itself in its interior senses on the sweetness of wisdom, from which it gathers strength, so that as it advances toward eternal things, it cannot grow weary in the labor of the journey.

  Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 4

• Song of Solomon 4:12

  The garden represents holy Church, because when she brings forth many peoples in faith, she sends out beautiful flowers like good soil. This garden is rightly said to be enclosed, because it is fortified on every side by the wall of charity, lest any reprobate enter within the number of the elect. Each holy soul is also understood to be an enclosed garden, because when she hides her good works by the intention of eternal life, when she utterly despises human praises, she surrounds herself with that good intention, lest the ancient enemy be able to break in to seize what is within. She is also called a fountain, because when she continually thinks on heavenly things, when she always gathers the knowledge of the Scriptures into the belly of memory, the holy mind does not cease to produce living waters within herself, which she is able to offer to thirsting neighbors so that they may be refreshed. Whence it is written, the Lord saying: "Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall become in him a fountain of water springing up into eternal life" (John 4:13). And elsewhere: "He who believes in me, as the Scripture says, rivers of living water shall flow from his belly" (John 7:38). But why is that fountain said to be sealed, unless because spiritual understanding is hidden from unworthy minds? For to the unfaithful man it is said by the Lord: "The Spirit breathes where He wills, and you hear His voice, and you do not know whence He comes or where He goes" (John 3:8). And again it is written: "The light of Your countenance is sealed upon us, O Lord" (Psalm 4:7). For what is there called a sealed light is without doubt here declared to be a sealed fountain. For the Holy Spirit both illuminates and bedews the mind He fills, and bedewing illuminates it: so that from His light it may see what to desire, and from His dew it may refresh itself, lest it grow weary.

  Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 4

• Song of Solomon 4:13

  What does holy Church send forth, if not holy words together with holy works, by which she begets and nourishes her children? When she leads some all the way to martyrdom and instructs others in holy conduct — sending the former, red with the blood of martyrdom, to the eternal homeland, while presenting the latter, living in holy works, to their neighbors as an example of holiness — what else does she send forth but pomegranates and the fruits of fruit trees? For pomegranates contain a multitude of seeds beneath a red rind, while the fruits of fruit trees hold within themselves the sweetness of refreshment. Just so, when martyrs labor under the fire of tribulation, when they do not hesitate to pour out their blood outwardly for Christ, they gather inwardly within their minds a multitude of virtues. Likewise, all the saints who live in the peace of the Church bear the fruits of fruit trees, because when they do holy works, they provide examples to their neighbors, by the display of which those who wish may refresh themselves. For however many saints there are in the Church, whether they burn with the fire of suffering or grow up quietly in the peace of the Church, they do not cease, while they live, to build up within themselves the fragrance of holy virtues like a paradise of sweetness and delights. Scripture reveals the abundance of this paradise when, under the voice of the bridegroom, it designates various virtues by the names of trees.

  Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 4

• Song of Solomon 4:14

  For what is designated by these diverse species of spices, if not the fragrance and progress of holy virtues, which is found in the saints? From these species, indeed, royal ointments are prepared; from these, healings of bodies are obtained. Rightly, therefore, they designate the virtues of souls, which, when gathered and compounded, both the good fragrance of reputation goes forth, and fitting health is restored to sick souls. But still the praise of the Church is repeated by the Bridegroom.

  Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 4

• Song of Solomon 4:15

  Rightly in the sendings forth, she is described as a fountain of gardens and a well of living waters. For what is designated by the fountain and the well, if not Holy Scripture? Which so generates the water of wisdom that it both always refreshes those who drink and yet does not cease to flow. It is fittingly said to belong to gardens, because Holy Scripture belongs especially to those in whose minds the seeds of virtues spring up. But we must ask why Scripture is called both a fountain and a well at the same time, since a fountain appears on the surface, while a well, lying hidden in the depths, exercises all who seek it with greater labor. But it should be known that divine Scripture, being clear in certain passages and presenting itself as obscure in others, is sometimes drunk easily as it is found, like a fountain, and sometimes requires great searching in order to be grasped once found. That the understanding of Holy Scripture is designated by water is shown elsewhere when it is said by the divine voice concerning the reprobate: I will send upon them a thirst for water and a hunger for bread (Amos 8:11). And through Isaiah it is said: The Lord will take away from Jerusalem and Judah every support of bread and every support of water (Isaiah 3:1). Here it should be noted that the support of bread is taken away first, and afterward the support of water. For when the weighty sayings of Scripture are not sought out so as to be obeyed, the mind gradually falls away from knowledge, so that at some point even easy things are not grasped by the understanding. But these waters are fittingly said to flow from Lebanon with force, for Lebanon, as has been said, is interpreted as "whitening." In baptism indeed we are whitened, when, the blackness of sins having been removed, we are reformed to the purity of new life. From Lebanon, therefore, the waters of the well flow with force, because in baptism all the elect receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, by which, being illuminated, they understand the meaning of Sacred Scripture. This knowledge of Holy Scripture flows with such force that when it touches the elect, it removes them from love of this life and carries all who cling to it across to eternal joys by the power of its rushing. For this is why it is written in the Psalm: The rushing of the river makes glad the city of God (Psalm 45:5). For the rushing of the river makes glad the city of God, when through the gift of the Holy Spirit the wisdom of Scripture, flooding in powerfully, gladdens the holy Church, or the mind of anyone who receives it, by its infusion. At the coming of this Spirit, the malignant spirit is rebuked.

  Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 4

• Song of Solomon 4:16

  For what is designated by the North wind, which constricts with cold and makes things numb, if not the unclean spirit, who, while he possesses all the reprobate, makes them numb to good work? By the South wind, truly, that is, the warm wind, the Holy Spirit is figured: who, when He touches the minds of the elect, releases them from all numbness and makes them fervent, so that they eagerly perform all good things. For hence it is said: "Turn again, O Lord, our captivity, as a torrent in the South" (Psalm 125:4). Let the North wind arise, then, and let the South wind come and blow through the garden of the Bridegroom, and let its spices flow; that is, let the evil spirit depart from the Church or from each soul, and let the Holy Spirit come. Who, coming, may pour the fire of charity into their thoughts, and, having poured Himself in, may release them from the numbness of negligence. When He does this, the spices flow; because when, with the Holy Spirit arriving, the heart that had previously been numb rouses itself to works, soon the fragrance of holy activity spreads sweetly through all the neighbors, so that all who hear may kindle themselves to the same things, and, with the South wind blowing, that is, with the Holy Spirit pouring Himself in, they may send forth the odors of virtues, so that everywhere the holy garden may bloom, and after the flower may produce fragrant and refreshing fruit.

  Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 4

• Song of Solomon 5:1

  The beloved comes into the garden and eats the fruit, when Christ visits souls and satisfies himself with the delight of good works. Whence he also adds, saying: I have come into my garden, my sister, my bride; I have gathered my myrrh with my spices; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk. The beloved reaps myrrh with spices when Christ, having brought the mortification of life to perfection, cuts off His chosen one from this life and brings him into the heavenly storehouse with a holy reputation. He eats the honeycomb with the honey when He fulfills the holy desire lying hidden in holy works, and brings the holy soul to the banquet of the saints to be fattened with His delight. He drinks His wine with milk when He refreshes Himself both with the perfection of some and, lovingly cherishing the innocence of others with piety, brings both to the eternal banquet. He invites all those remaining to follow their example, when He adds: Eat, my friends, drink and be inebriated, dearest ones. It must be noted first of all that those who eat are called friends, while those who drink and become inebriated are declared to be the dearest beloved. By these words it is given to be understood that in this passage, to eat is good, but to drink and become inebriated is a greater good. For there are indeed certain persons in the holy Church who hear the divine precepts in such a way that they learn to love heavenly things more than earthly ones, give much to the poor out of desire for those things, guard themselves from wicked works, seize nothing from anyone by violence, willingly hear the preaching of the Church, instruct themselves in the faith, and exercise that faith through holy works — and yet they have wives, raise children, and care for their possessions, although they set Christ above all these things. These persons truly eat and are friends, because in hearing holy Scripture they take such refreshment for themselves that, even though they do not yet rise to the summit of perfection, nevertheless, perfect according to their own measure, they live without fault in the divine precepts. And while the parents of blessed John — namely Zechariah and Elizabeth (Luke 1) — strove to observe this, through angelic revelation they merited in their old age to receive a son, than whom no greater has arisen among those born of women, and who himself merited to point out with his finger and to baptize the very Savior of the world (Matthew 11). Of his parents it is said: "They were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord without blame" (Luke 1:6). But there are others who hear or read divine Scripture with such eagerness that, having at once renounced all earthly occupations, they seek only heavenly things; they abandon parents, wives, homes, children, and all transitory things, desiring only to follow and embrace Christ. Out of longing for Him they afflict themselves with fasts, pour forth tears, devote themselves to divine meditations, think only on what is eternal, give themselves to contemplation, laboring to this end: that forgetting the things which are behind, they may stretch themselves forward more and more to the things that lie ahead (Philippians 3). What indeed are these persons doing, what else, but drinking until they are inebriated — so that while they forget all earthly things through desire, they rightly deserve to be called by the heavenly Bridegroom not merely friends, but dearest beloved?

  Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 5

• Song of Solomon 5:2

  Indeed, the hearts of the elect of this kind can rightly be called the heart of the bridegroom, for the more they flee the outward things that are in the world, the more secretly they come to know the inward things of the bridegroom. Of these the same bridegroom doubtless speaks elsewhere: "He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him, and I will manifest myself to him" (John 14:21). The bridegroom therefore sleeps, and his heart keeps watch: because while Christ, now glorified, rests in blessedness, whoever loves him perfectly labors to reach him. Of this watchfulness the bride spoke above: "While the king was on his couch, my nard gave forth its fragrance" (Song of Songs 1:11). For that his resting is called sleeping is made clear by what is read elsewhere: "In peace, in the selfsame, I will sleep and rest" (Psalm 4:9). Yet the bride herself can also say this of herself. Let her therefore say: "I sleep, and my heart keeps watch." As if a holy mind were speaking openly, saying: While I sleep outwardly from worldly tumults, I weigh in wakeful interior thought what heavenly things there are. For when holy men despise all earthly things, when they flee entirely the tumults of the world, when they take up leisure in the way of God, they by no means abandon those things in order to give themselves over to torpor; but laboring inwardly, they strive to behold in their heart what those things are for which they were made. For they do not sleep in order to grow sluggish, but they rest from transitory things in order to contemplate eternal things more freely. Yet sometimes the bridegroom rouses them for the benefit of their neighbors, and calls them back from the leisure they love so that they may profit those among whom they live. Hearing his voice, the bride says, even while she sleeps: "The voice of my beloved, knocking." What he says while knocking, she adds: "Open to me, my sister, my friend, my dove, my spotless one." She also joins the reason for his cry, saying: "For my head is full of dew, and my locks with the drops of the night." While the bride sleeps, the beloved knocks that she may open to him; because while the holy mind attends to itself through rest, Christ endures many sinful works in this world; which unless spiritual men gird themselves for teaching, carnal people never recognize on their own, nor care to correct. The bridegroom therefore wills that leisure be sometimes set aside, and that all spiritual persons be stirred to the edification of their neighbors; because while perfect men attend only to themselves through interior quiet, the bridegroom grieves that worldly people fall more and more toward worse things, since they know him less and less on account of the silence of spiritual persons; which he himself makes manifest when he says: "Because my head is full of dew, and my locks with the drops of the nights." What is meant by the head of the bridegroom, if not God, and what by the dew in this place, where it is spoken in lamentation, if not the coldness of minds? For it is written: "The head of Christ is God" (1 Cor. 11:3). And concerning the coldness of any carnal mind it is again written: "As a cistern makes its water cold, so has she made her malice cold" (Jer. 6:7). The head of Christ, therefore, is full of dew, because many who are placed in the Church both believe him to be God and yet, persisting in coldness, are not kindled to the ardor of charity. By his locks, moreover, we understand the peoples whom we know to hang from and weigh upon the faith of his divinity, as if from the head of Christ. But the locks are said to be full of the drops of the nights; because while they hang suspended in the time of this dark temporality, they flow more and more with the drippings of iniquities. The bride is roused to kindle these, when any spiritual person is called from rest to the prelacy of the Church for the edification of many. But since she fears that if she comes to the prelacy, it will be necessary to be occupied with the cares of the world; and thus, while through the occasion of edifying many she inclines herself to temporal things, she may lose her quiet and even be stained with the filth of sins — therefore she responds to the crying bridegroom, saying: "I have put off my tunic; how shall I put it on again? I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them again?"

  Commentary on the Song of Songs, Chapter 5