Sermons on the Song of Songs

OF THE NATURE, MANNER, AND PROPERTIES OF THE ANGELICAL LOVE TOWARDS GOD, ACCORDING TO THE SEVERAL ORDERS OF ANGELS.

THE loving Bride still continues to speak. She continues still to celebrate the praises of her Spouse, and to invite new graces from Him, while showing that those she has already received are not unfruitful. For hear what words she adds: Therefore do the virgins love Thee, As if she would say: ' Not in vain nor uselessly is

it, O my Spouse, that Thy Name is poured forth upon my bosom, nor is Thy Name without effect: for therefore do the virgins love Thee/ Wherefore do they love? Because of this outpouring of His Name. It is that which has aroused their love for the Spouse; they have taken of that grace, and therefore do they love Him. When the Bride has received that gift of infused grace, they who cannot be far from their mother's side have speedily discerned the fragrance of it, and, being filled with its sweetness, say: The Love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us (Rom. v. 5). Then the Bride, taking notice with joy of their devotion, says: ' Thou seest, O my Spouse, the fruit of Thy Name poured forth; for because of it the virgins love Thee/ They feel it when poured forth, though they were not capable of receiving it wholly; therefore they have loved Thee. Thus the effusion of that Name renders it capable of being received, and when received it cannot but be lovable; but this applies to virgins only. Those who are of greater capacity rejoice in it as a whole, nor do they need the effusion of it.

2. The angelic race behold in fixed contemplation the profound abyss of the judgments of God. They take supreme pleasure, and experience an unspeakable happiness, in the exalted righteousness of these, and, furthermore, regard it as their glory that it is by their ministry these are carried into execution and are made known, and because of this they deservedly love the Lord Jesus Christ. Are they not a//, it is said, ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation f (Heb. i. 14). I believe that Archangels (for we must, doubtless, consider them as differing in some respect from those who are simply Angels) delight in a wonderful manner, because they are admitted more nearly into the counsels of the Eternal Wisdom, and that the same counsels are also carried out by them with the greatest wisdom and judgment as to time and place. And this is the cause why they, too, love the Lord Jesus. There are other blessed spirits, which are called Virtues; perhaps for this reason, that they are ordained by God to examine with a happy curiosity, and, at the same time, to admire, the secret and permanent causes of miracles and wonders, and that they cause these signs of power to take place in the world when and where they please, having command over all the elements; and on this account they, too, most justly have an ardent love for the Lord of all power, and for Christ who is the Power of God. For it is an employment full of sweetness and grace to contemplate the hidden and uncertain truths of wisdom in Wisdom itself, and it is none the less full of honour and glory that God deigns to make use of their ministry in order that the effects, of which the causes are hidden in His Word, may be known and admired by men.

3. There are other spirits, who are named Powers, since they delight in beholding and magnifying the Almighty power of our Crucified Lord, which extends everywhere with invincible force; and they receive power to defeat and to put to flight the opposing powers of demons and of men, for the good of those who are to be heirs of salvation.

And have not these, too, a most well-founded cause for loving the Lord Jesus? Above these, again, are Principalities, who, beholding Him from a position more elevated, and discerning clearly that He is the Firstbegotten of all Creation, and the Principle of existence to the whole universe, receive a degree of dignity so great and exalted that it extends over the whole earth; and that from the lofty and sublime eminence on which they are, they are able to change and vary kingdoms and dignities at their will — to dispose of men and of things, making the last to be first, and the first last; putting down the mighty from their seat, and exalting the humble and meek. And this is to them a reason for loving the Lord Christ. But the Dominations also love Him. Wherefore? Because they are led by a certain praiseworthy presumption to trace out and find something, I know not what, that is deeper and more sublime in the Dominion of Christ, which is bounded by no limit, and can be checked by no resistance. They consider that He fills all the world, not only by His power, but also by His Presence — that all things, from the height of heaven to the depth of the abyss, are obedient to His righteous and holy Will, which directs, and that in an admirable order, the revolutions of the seasons, the movements of bodies, and even the impulses and ideas of minds; and that He does all this with a care and vigilance so exact that not one of all these things is able to fail in performing its functions even by (as the phrase is) one point or one iota, and yet with a facility so great that He who governs all feels no inquietude or anxiety whatever. These Angels, then, seeing that the Lord of Sabaoth judges all things with a tranquillity so complete, are, as it were, transported out of themselves, in their trance of sweet and intense contemplation, and rapt into that vast ocean (so to speak) of the Divine splendour; they come to themselves again in a calm so wonderful and pervading, and in which they enjoy so great peace and security, that in their quiescence all the other spirits seem to serve and to defend them, as if, by a singular prerogative, they were, in truth; Dominations.

4. Upon the Thrones God is seated. And I suppose that this order of spirits have a cause more just, and reason more abundant, for loving, than have all the others who have been already mentioned. For even if you enter the palace of some human king, do you not find his royal seat in a place of high honour — among the benches, chairs, and seats of various kinds with which it is filled? Nor is it necessary to inquire where the king is accustomed to sit, since his royal seat or throne presents itself at once to the eye, and is more lofty and more richly adorned than others. So, also, are we to understand that those spirits whom the Divine Majesty, by a singular and astonishing favour, has deigned to select for the Throne on which to sit, surpass all others in beauty and magnificence. To be seated (sessio) signifies authority; and I think that He, who in heaven and in earth is our only Master and Teacher, Christ the WTisdom of God, though He indeed reaches everywhere because of His perfect purity, enlightens particularly and principally, by His presence, those blessed spirits as being His throne, and that from thence, as from a solemn auditorium. He teaches knowledge to angels and to men. Thence it is that the Angels derive their knowledge of the Divine judgments, and the Archangels theirs of the Divine counsels; there the Virtues hear when and where they are to work signs, and of what nature these are to be. There, in short, all the Angels, whether Powers, or Principalities, or Dominations, learn what are the duties of the offices they bear, and what are their honours and dignities; and especially how (which is the caution given to all) they should use the power bestowed upon them without abusing it, either by acting according to their own will, or for the sake of their own glory.

5. As for those heavenly bands which are called Cherubin, I am inclined to think, following even the signification of the word, that they have nothing which they derive either from, or by means of, the Thrones, since it is permitted them to drink to the full from the Fountain itself, the Lord Jesus, who deigns Himself, and by Himself, to introduce them into all the fulness of truth, and to reveal to them abundantly all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge which are hidden in Him. Neither do those who are called Seraphin [require to learn from the Thrones], since God, who is Himself Love, has so drawn them to, and absorbed them in, Him, and raised them to the same ardour of holy affection, that they appear to be of one Spirit with Him, just as the fire which enkindles air, and impresses upon it heat and colour like its own, so that it is manifestly not merely ignited, but itself become fire. They love, then, above all things, to contemplate in God, the former, that knowledge which is in Him without measure or limit; the latter, the love which is never absent from Him. It is from this that they have obtained names which express that which in each is pre-eminent. For the word Cherubin signifies fulness of knowledge; and Seraphin, inflaming or inflamed.

6. God is, then, loved by the Angels because of the supreme righteousness of His judgments; by the Archangels because of the supreme wisdom of His purposes; by the Virtues on account of the most blessed showing forth of miracles and wonders by which He deigns to draw the unbelieving to faith; but by the Powers on account of that power, equally just and prevailing, by which He is wont to defeat the cruelty of the wicked, and to defend the good against them; by the Principalities on account of that eternal and primordial power which bestows the principle of existence, and existence itself, upon every creature, whether of higher rank or lower, spiritual and corporeal, extending with prevailing strength from one extremity of the universe to the other; by the Dominations, also, because of the calm and untroubled Will which, though it everywhere dominates with irresistible strength, disposes all things with sweetness according to the goodness belonging to its nature, and with a tranquillity which nothing can disturb. He is loved also by the Thrones because of the benevolence of His supreme Wisdom, which communicates itself without envy, and of the unction of grace, which teaches all things freely. Furthermore, He is loved by the Cherubin because He is God, the Lord of all knowledge, and as He knows what each has need of for salvation, so He distributes His gifts with judgment and providence, according to the necessity of the individual, to those who worthily make request for them; and, lastly, by the Seraphin, inasmuch as He is Himself Love, that He hateth nothing that He has made, and wills that all men should come to the knowledge of the Truth and be saved.

7. All these spirits, then, love God according to the degree of knowledge they have of Him. But there are souls which are childlike (adolescentulce = young girls), which, as they know less, so they comprehend less, and are not adequate to these sublime heights of attainment; and these are little children in Christ, to be nourished with milk and with oil. These it is who have need to draw from the bosom of the Spouse the nourishment for their love. The Spouse hath oil poured forth; and from the fragrance which it exhales they are aroused to taste and know how gracious the Lord is. And when she sees and feels their ardent love she turns to her Lord, and saith: Thy Name is as oil poured forth^ therefore have young maidens loved Thee beyond measure (nimis, Vulg.). What is * beyond measure'? Greatly, vehemently, ardently. Or, rather, this spiritual discourse is addressed indirectly to you who have but lately come hither; and it reproves that indiscreet fervour and immoderate zeal which you follow with too great obstinacy, and which we have so frequently endeavoured to repress. You are not willing to be contented with the common life. The appointed fasts, the solemn vigils, the ordinary Rule, the measure fixed as to food and to dress, in which we all share, does not suffice for you. You prefer your own private rules to those which are common to all. You who have once entrusted to me the care of your souls, why do you again interfere with it? See, then, you have for a guide not me, but your own will once more, which, as you know, has so often caused you to offend against God.1 It is that which teaches you not to show any forbearance towards your nature, not to listen to reason, not to yield to the advice or example of your seniors, not to obey me. Do you not know that obedience is better than sacrifice (1 Sam. xv. 22)? Have you not read in your Rule, that whatsoever is done without the will or consent of your spiritual father, shall be imputed to vainglory, and not as deserving any recompense (Rule of S. Benedict, c. 49). Have you not read in the Gospel that Jesus, when a Boy, left to holy youth a pattern how to obey? For when He had remained in Jerusalem, though He had said that it behoved Him to be about His Father's business, yet as His parents did not acquiesce in His words He did not disdain to follow them to Nazareth: the Master to follow His disciples, the Son of God to follow human beings, the Divine Word and Wisdom to follow a carpenter and his wife! What does the sacred history even add? And He was subject unto them (Luke ii. 43-51). How long will ye be wise in your own eyes? God entrusts Himself and submits Himself to mortal men, and will you still walk in your own ways? You had received a good intention, but you do not carry it out wisely. I fear lest, instead of a good spirit, you have harboured one who, under an appearance of good, will overthrow you, and that you who have begun in the Spirit, will complete your course in the flesh. Do you not know that Satan himself is often transformed into an angel of light (2 Cor. xi. 14)? God is Wisdom, and He desires to be loved, not only to our own delight, but also wisely. Wherefore the Apostle says: Yours is a reasonable service (Rom xii. 1). Otherwise, if you neglect knowledge, the spirit of error will with great ease lead you astray by means of your zeal; nor has our cunning enemy any device more effectual in eliminating love from the heart than that of inducing us, if he can, to act without due prudence and caution. Wherefore I intend to give you certain rules, which it is necessary for those who love God to observe. But as it is time for me to bring my sermon to a close, I will endeavour to explain them to you to-morrow, if God shall continue to me life and the leisure to address you. For then we shall assemble in new vigour after the repose of the night, and (which is the chief thing) shall be rendered more willing and ardent by the preceding prayers to hear the discourse respecting love; in dependence on the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.