Sermons on the Song of Songs

N Judah is God known: His Name is great in Israel (Ps. lxxv. i.).

The people (of the Gentiles) who walked in darkness have seen a

^ great light (Is. ix. 2), which was in Judah and in Israel, and have desired to approach it, and be enlightened; so that those who once were not a people, now became the people of God (1 Pet. ii. 10); and one corner-stone united together the two walls which came from different sides, so that, thenceforth, the place of his abode was a place of peace. That which inspired [the nation] with confidence was the voice of invitation which it had heard: Rejoice, ye Gentiles, with His people (Rom. xv. 10). Therefore He desired them to draw near; but the Synagogue forbade them, asserting the Church gathered out of the nations to be unclean, and unworthy of a favour so great Then, reproaching it as a sink of idolatry, and blaming the blindness of its ignorance, said [the Jew]: In what way have you merited this favour? Touch me not To which the other replied: Why must I not do so? Is He the God of the Jews only? Is He not also of the Gentiles? (Rom. iii. 29). And if merit is wanting in me, yet assuredly pity and compassion is not wanting in Him. He is not only righteous, but also compassionate O Lord, let Thy tender mercies come unto me, and I shall live; and again she says: Many, O Lord, are Thy mercies: quicken me according to Thy judgment (Ps. cxix. 77, 156), which, inasmuch as it is moderated and restrained, is itself mercy. What, then, will the Lord so just and so merciful do, if there be one who glories in the Law, and proudly attributes righteousness to himself; who supposes that he does not need mercy, and despises another who does need it; and, again, another who is aware of his offences, who confesses his un worthiness, who prays God not to deal with him according unto judgment, but to extend to him the Divine mercy? What, I say, will the Judge do, and that Judge one to whom judgment and mercy are equally familiar, so that neither of the two belongs to Him more than the other? What can possibly be more appropriate, than that He should deal with each according to his prayer, and dispense judgment to the one and to the other mercy? The Jew seeks judgment; let him be judged; but let the Gentiles honour God for His mercy. And it is judgment that those who despise the merciful righteousness of God, and desire to set up their own righteousness (which assuredly accuses, not justifies, them), should be left to that same righteousness of their own, to be overthrown rather than justified.

2. For the Law, which has never rendered anyone perfect, is a yoke which neither their fathers nor they have ever been able to

bear. But the Synagogue is strong; it cares not for an easy yoke, nor for a light burden. It is in health; it has no need of a physician, nor of the anointing of the Spirit. It trusts in the Law; let the Law deliver it, if the Law has the power. But there has been no Law bestowed which is able to give life; nay, moreover, it is death that the Law gives: for the Utter killeth (2 Cor. iii. 6). Therefore (said the Lord) I say unto you, that ye shall die in your sins (John viii. 24). This, then, O Synagogue, is the judgment which you, in your error, are clamouring for. O blinded and obstinate! you shall be left to your error, until the fulness of the Gentiles, which you proudly despise, and reject by envy, shall come in, and you shall acknowledge as God Him who is known in Judaea, whose Name is great in Israel. For the rendering of this judgment it is that Jesus has come unto this world, that they who see not might see, and that they who see may become blind (John ix. 39). Yet this judgment is but in part, for the Lord will not cast off His people (Ps. xciv. 14) altogether; He preserves to Himself as a seed His Apostles, and the multitude of the believers, who were of one heart and of one soul. He will not reject them to the end, but will save a remnant. He will again take to Himself Israel His servant, remembering His mercy (Luke i. 54), so that mercy shall not fail to accompany judgment, even there where it finds no place. Otherwise, if He had treated them according to their merits, He would inflict judgment without mercy upon those who show no mercy (James ii. 13). For Judah hath in abundance the oil of the knowledge of God, and keeps it jealously to herself, as a miser, as it were in a closely-sealed vessel. I ask for it, and she does not take pity upon me; nor will she even lend it. She desires to possess alone the worship, the knowledge, the great Name of God, not because she is jealous for her own happiness, but because she is envious of mine.

3. Therefore do Thou, O Lord, give judgment in my cause that Thy great Name may be henceforth magnified, and thy oil Divine be multiplied still more. Let it rise, let it bubble up, let it be poured forth and roll among the nations, and let all flesh have part in the salvation of God. Wherefore, as the ungrateful Jew desires, should the unction of salvation remain upon the beard of Aaron alone? It is not for the beard, but for the head. Nor does the head exist for the beard alone, but for the whole body. Let it receive first, but not exclusively. Let that [unction] which it has received from on high be poured upon the lower limbs also. Let the heavenly fluid descend — descend upon the breast also of the Church. She does not disdain — she eagerly receives — that which falls upon her from the beard [of her High Priest]; and when saturated with the dew of grace, that she may not show herself ungrateful, she cries: Thy Name is as ointment poured forth (Cant i. 2). Let it roll farther yet, I entreat; let it reach even to the skirt of her clothing — that is to say, let it extend even to me, the last and lowest of all, and the most unworthy, yet still belonging, as it were, to that clothing. I earnestly entreat, appealing to the goodness [of my God], that this stream of grace may come to me, as it were, from the bosom of my mother [Church], for I am as a babe in Christ. And if any man whose eye is evil because of Thy goodness should murmur, do Thou, O Lord, answer for me; let judgment come forth from Thy Countenance, not from the arrogance of Israel. Nay, more, do Thou reply on Thy own behalf, and say to the slanderer — for it is of Thee that he utters slanders, because of Thy free grace Thou dost bestow Thy good gifts — declare, I say, to him: / will give unto this last even as unto thee (Matt. xx. 14). That displeases the Pharisee; but why, O Pharisee, dost thou murmur? My right is the will of the Judge. Is He not as just in discerning merit as He is rich in rewarding it? May He not do as He will [with His own]? To me, I confess, mercy is shown; but to thee no injury whatever is done. Take what thine is, and go thy way. If He has decreed to bestow upon me also the gift of salvation, what dost thou lose by His so doing?

4. Exaggerate your merits to any degree you will, and extol your labours, the mercy of the Lord is better than life (Ps. lxiii. 3). I have not, I confess it, endured the burden and heat of the day, but I bear an easy yoke and a light burden according to the good pleasure of our Father. My task has been of scarcely an hour long, and if it had been longer, love would have prevented me from perceiving it. Let the Jew busy himself in his own strength; but as for me, my only care is to make proof what is the good and acceptable and perfect Will of the Lord. It is from it that I repair the losses in time and in labour which I have sustained. He trusts to the letter of an agreement; I to the decree of God's good pleasure; yea, I believe, nor shall I be confounded in my faith, for my life depends upon His Will. That grace reconciles the Father to me, that restores to me my lost inheritance, and with even a greater weight of grace delights me with sweet melody, delicious viands, and all the delightful joys of all His rejoicing family. If that elder brother of mine is indignant, and prefers to make merry with his friends upon a kid without the doors rather than with me in our Father's House upon the fatted calf, the answer shall be returned to him: // was meet that we should make merry and be glad; for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found (Luke xv. 32). The Synagogue still feasts without, and with demons for friends, whom it delights to see that she is still so blind as to devour the kid [so to speak] of sin — to swallow, and. as it were, to hide it in the stomach of her folly and ignorance; while, in her scorn of the righteousness of God and desire to establish her own righteousness, she declares that she has no sin, and no need of the death of the fatted calf, because she supposes herself to be pure and righteous by the works of the Law. But the Church, after having rent asunder, by the death of the Word crucified, the veil of the letter which killeth, is led by the Spirit of liberty to advance boldly into His secret things — to recognise and take delight in them, to be chosen into the place of her rival, to become the Bride, to enjoy the graces of which the other is deprived; and, being everywhere bedewed and anointed with the oil of her gladness, clinging closely to the Lord Christ, and receiving the vital warmth of the Holy Spirit, she obtains this happiness beyond her fellows (Ps. xlv. 7), and says: Thy Name is as ointment poured forth. What wonder if she who embraces Him who is filled with this sacred unction should herself be anointed therewith!

5. The Church, then, reposes within, but as yet the Church of those who are perfect; yet for us also there is hope. Let us who fall short of this perfection rest without, and rejoice in the hope which is given to us. In the meantime, the Bridegroom and the Bride are alone within; they enjoy mutual and ineffable delights, untroubled by any tumult of carnal desires, or by the fleeting images of earthly things. Without await them the company of virgin souls, who cannot be as yet free from such disquietudes; but they wait in assured peace, knowing that of them it has been said: The virgins, her companions that follow her, shall be brought [unto the King\ (Ps. xlv. 14). And that each of them may know of'what spirit they are, I call those virgin souls who, having been covenanted to Christ before they were defiled by the embraces of the world, persevere constantly in the love of Him to whom they have devoted themselves, and are so much the more happy the earlier they did so. And I call those ' their companions ' (proximas) who, after having shamefully given themselves over in bondage to the princes of this world — that is, to impure spirits — yet, at length, being ashamed of their own defilement in which they were once conformed to this world, came forth from it, and hasten to put on the likeness of the new man, and that with the greater sincerity the later they were in their reformation. Both the one and the other class go forward together; they do not fail, nor are they wearied, even though they do not feel as yet in full that inward consolation which moves souls to say: Thy Name is as ointment poured forth. For these souls do not venture to address themselves directly to the Bridegroom, yet their endeavour is to press closely in the footsteps of her who leads them on (magistrcs); they will enjoy the delightful perfume of the oil poured forth, and will be incited by it to desire and to seek for still higher and better things.

6. I am not ashamed to confess that often, and particularly at the commencement of my conversion, I myself experienced extreme coldness and hardness of heart. I sought after Him whom my soul was desirous to love; for it was not then able to love one whom it had not yet found, or, at least, it loved Him less than it wished to do, and on that account was seeking Him that it might love Him with an increased affection, though assuredly it would not have sought Him without having some degree of love for Him previously. While, then, I was seeking Him in whom my frozen and languid spirit might find warmth and repose, and no one came from any side to my help, to dissolve the icy torpor of my spiritual senses and to bring back the sweetness and fruitfulness of the spring — at that time, I say, my soul languished and drooped in torpor, a prey to hard and hopeless depression and dull discontent At such times it would murmur to itself: Who is able to abide the rigour of His frost? (Ps. cxlvii. 17). Then, on a sudden, at a word, at the sight of some holy or piously-minded person, or at the mere remembrance of one dead or absent, the Holy Spirit would breathe upon [my frozen soul], and the waters would flow; then tears were my food day and night. What was that but the perfume exhaled by that anointing with which that holy one was endued? It was not the anointing itself, for that did not reach me except through the medium of some man; and though the gift caused me joy, yet I was confounded and humiliated to know that I enjoyed but a passing gust of sweetness, and that the unction from which it arose was not vouchsafed to me. And having only the pleasure to perceive it at a distance, but not to draw near and touch it, I understood that I was unworthy that God should communicate to me its sweetness directly (per se if sum). And if now the same thing occurs to me, I receive, indeed, eagerly the favour accorded to me, and I feel thankful; but I am touched with extreme grief not to have merited it by myself, nor received it, so to speak, from hand to hand, as I earnestly entreated that I might do. I am ashamed to be moved more at the remembrance of man than at that of God. And then I cry with groaning: When shall I come and appear before God? (Ps. xlii. 2). I think, too, that some of you have gone through the same experience, and do so sometimes even now. What are we to think of this, except that God permits it either to warn us of pride, to preserve our humility, to nourish brotherly charity, or to increase our desire for holiness? One and the same kind of food serves both as medicine for the sick, and as diet for the sickly (aegrotativis). Even more, it strengthens the weak, and delights those who are in health; it both heals disease, and preserves health; nourishes the body, and, at the same time, is agreeable to the taste.

7. But let us return to the words of the Bridegroom; let us be careful to listen to what He says, and to delight in that which delights Him. The Bride, as I have said, is the Church. She it is to whom more has been forgiven, and who loves the more. That with which her rival hastens to reproach her, she herself turns to her profit. Thus she is the more gentle for chiding, more patient to endure, more ardent in love, more prudent in self control; thus she becomes the humbler for the consciousness of her faults, more acceptable by her modesty, more prepared to obey, more earnest and devoted in thanksgiving. Finally, while the Synagogue, as has been said, murmurs, recalls her merits, her labours, and the burden and heat of the day which she has borne, the Church, on the contrary, recounts but the benefits which she has received, and cries: Thy Name is as ointment poured forth.

8. This is evidently the testimony which Israel gives to celebrate the Name of the Lord; yet not the Israel which is according to the flesh, but that which is according to the Spirit. For how could the former speak thus? It is not that he has not oil, but that he has it not poured forth. He has it, but it is hidden; he has it in his books, but not in his heart. He attaches himself to the outward letter; he clasps in his hands a vase filled with fragrant oil, but it is closed, and he opens it not that he may be anointed therewith. The anointing of the Spirit is inward — yea, it is inward; open, then, and be anointed, and no longer shalt thou be a rebellious house. Of what avail is oil in thy vases, if thou hast it not to anoint thy limbs? What does it profit thee to read the life-giving Name of the Saviour in books, and not to have faith in Him in thy heart and obedience in thy life? Thou hast oil; pour it forth, and thou shalt feel its threefold virtue. But the Jew disdains these things; do you, then, listen. I wish to tell you what I have not yet mentioned, why the Name of the Bridegroom is compared to oil. Now, for this there are three reasons. But since He is called by many names, inasmuch as that which is proper to Him is known to none (for it is Ineffable), we must first of all invoke the Holy Spirit that He will deign, by His Divine wisdom, to reveal to us, since it has not pleased Him to declare it in the Word written, that Name, out of all those which have been given to Him, which He would have us to understand in this passage; but of this also at another time. For although I am quite prepared to speak of all these things, yet that neither you should be burdened, nor I wearied with speaking, the hour warns us to make an end. Keep in mind what I have drawn your attention to, that it may not be needful to repeat it to-morrow. This is what I have in hand and propose to speak of next; namely, why the Name of the Bridegroom is compared to oil; and what is that special Name among the many given to Him. And since I am able to speak nothing of myself, let your prayer be offered that the Bridegroom Himself, Jesus Christ our Lord, may by His Spirit reveal it to us. To Him be honour and glory, for ever and ever. Amen.

IN WHAT MANNER THE NAME OF JESUS IS A SALUTARY MEDICINE TO FAITHFUL CHRISTIANS IN ALL ADVERSITIES.

HE Spirit of wisdom is benevolent,1 and He is not accustomed to show Himself unapproachable to those who invoke Him, since often, before even He is called upon, He saith, Z#, lam here (Is. lxv. 24). Listen, now, to what at your prayer He has deigned to make known by means of me upon that subject, of which we treated yesterday, and receive in due season the fruit of your prayers. Behold, I show you a Name which is rightly compared to oil, and I will explain to you by what right it is thus compared. You read, upon