Sermons on the Song of Songs

IN WHAT MANNER THE BRIDE, THAT IS, THE CHURCH, ASKS THAT SHE MAY BE DRAWN TO FOLLOW AFTER HER SPOUSE, WHO IS CHRIST.

7~^\ RA W me afler Thee: we will run in tlie odour of Thy per- J J fumes.1 What? is it needful that the Bride should be drawn to follow, and to follow after such a Spouse, as if she followed Him unwillingly, and not of her own impulse and wish? But not everyone who is caused by force to move is thus moved against his will. For example, one who is infirm* or weak, and is not able to walk alone, is not otherwise than glad to be drawn to the bath or to the table, though a criminal doubtless is reluctant to be brought to the judgment or to the place of punishment. Now, she who here speaks desires and entreats to be drawn; but she would not do this if she were able to follow her beloved by her own strength, according to her wish. But wherefore is she unable? Must we allow that the Spouse, too, is weak and infirm? If it were one of her maidens who declared herself so, and entreated to be helped forward, we should in nowise wonder. But of the Spouse, who seemed to be able even to help others forward, so strong and perfect was she; who is there who does not find it strange, that she needs to be drawn forward herself, as if she were weak or languishing? Of what soul shall we feel any confidence, that it is strong and healthful, if we shall consent for her to be called weak, who for her singular perfection, and more excellent virtue, is named the Spouse of the Lord? Is it the Church, perhaps, who spake thus, when she beheld her Beloved ascending up on high, and earnestly desired to follow Him, and be assumed with Him into glory? For, to whatever degree of perfection a soul may have attained, as long as it groans under the body of this death, and is held captive in the prison of this evil world, as long as it is constrained by necessities, tortured by faults and wrong doings, it arises of necessity more slowly and sluggishly than it wouM desire to the contemplation of heavenly things, nor is it altogether free to follow the Bridegroom [who is the I^amb, Rev. xiv. 4] whithersoever He goeth. It was this which drew that lamentable cry from him who said: O miserable man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? (Rom. vii. 24). It was this which inspired the suppliant entreaty: Bring my soul out

of prison (Ps. cxlii. 7). And so also the Bride says, and says as it were with a groan, Draw me, and I will run after Thee: because the corruptible body presseth down the soul, and the earthly tabernacle weigheth down the mind, that museth upon many things (Wisd. ix. 15). Or perhaps she speaks thus in her desire to depart and be with Christ; especially when she sees those souls, on account of which it seemed needful that she should remain in the flesh, making good progress, already having love for the Bridegroom, and remaining in the safe refuge of charity. This, indeed, she had referred to before: Wherefore the maidens have loved Thee exceedingly. Now, it seems as if she would say: * Lo the maidens have loved Thee, and by that love are firmly united to Thee; they have no need of me any longer; there is no reason for my delaying still in this life; therefore, Draio me, and J will run after Thee.

2. This I should have considered to be her thought, if she had said, ' Draw me to Thee.' But as she says, ' after Thee,' that phrase seems to me rather to make request that she might have grace to follow the footsteps of His life, to be able to emulate His virtue, to hold fast, and by, His rule of life, to attain the perfection of His character. In these especially [the soul] has the greatest need of assistance, to be enabled to deny herself, to take up her cross, and thus to follow after Christ. In order to attain this, the Bride has great need to be drawn onward; and by none other than He who says: Without Me ye can do nothing (John xv. 5). i I know well,' she says, 'that I am not able to reach Thee, except by following after Thee; nor can I follow after Thee, except I am helped by Thee to do so: and, therefore, I pray that Thou wouldest draw me after Thee.' In truth, Blessed is the man whose help is from Thee: in his heart he hath set steps in the valley of tears (Ps. lxxxiv. 5) in order one day to reach Thee upon the mountains of everlasting joy. How few there are, O Lord Jesus, who are willing to follow after Thee! and yet there is no one who does not wish to reach Thy Presence, since it is known to all that at Thy Right Hand there are pleasures for evermore (Ps. xvi. 11). On that account, all desire to obtain happiness from Thee, but they have not a similar desire to imitate Thee; they wish to reign with Thee, but not to suffer with Thee. Such was he who said: Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his (Num. xxiii. 10); he desired that the closing of his life might be similar to that of the righteous, but not that its beginnings might be so. Even carnal men desire for themselves the death of men who are spiritual, and yet shudder at the idea of leading their life. For they know that precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints; since, when He giveth to His beloved sleep, lo I the heritage of the Lord (Ps. cxxvii. 2, 3), and because Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord (Rev. xiv. 13); while, on the contrary, according to the declaration of the prophet, The death of the wicked is very evil (Ps. xxxiii. 22, Vulg. and Douay). They do not care to seek Him, whom they yet desire to find; they wish to reach

Him, but to do so without following Him. Not such were they, of whom He said: Ye are they which have continued with Me in My temptations (Luke xxii. 28). Blessed are they who were found worthy to receive such a testimony from Thee, O good Jesus! They did in truth come after Thee, both with their feet, and in the affections of their hearts. Thou hast made known to them the ways of life, in calling them after Thee, who art the Way, and the Life; Thou sayest unto them, Follaiv Me> I will make you fishers of men (Matt. iv. 19); and again, If any man seme Me, let him follow me: and w lie re I am, there shall also My servant be (John xii. 26). Therefore they congratulated themselves, saying: Behold, we have forsaken all and followed Thee (Matt. xix. 27).

3. It is thus, then, that Thy Beloved, leaving all things for Thy sake, desires always to follow after Thee, to walk closely in Thy footsteps always, and to follow Thee whithersoever Thou goest, knowing that Thy ways are ways of blessedness, and all Thy paths are peace, and that therefore he who followeth Thee walks not in darkness. If she prays that she may be drawn onward, it is because Thy righteousness is as the mountains of God, and that in her own strength she is not able to attain unto it. She prays, as she is wont, that she may be drawn onward, because no man can come to Thee unless Thy Father shall have drawn him (John vi. 44); and those whom The Father draweth, Thou dost draw also; for the works which the Father doeth, those also doeth the Son likewise. But the suppliant is more familiar with the Son, and makes this request to be drawn of Him, as of her own Bridegroom,1 whom the Father hath sent to be her Leader and her Guide, to go before her in the way of righteousness, to prepare for her the path of virtues, to train her up even as His own self, to teach her the way of wisdom, to bestow upon her the law of life and of discipline; and to bring her to such perfection that He may justly take pleasure in her beauty.

4. Draw me after Thee: we will run in the fragrance of Thy perfumes. I have need to be drawn for this reason, because the fire of Thy love has grown somewhat cold in us; nor are we, on account of that coldness, able to run as we did yesterday and in former days. But we shall run when Thou shalt have restored to us the joy of Thy salvation, when the warmth of grace shall have returned to us, when the Sun of Righteousness shall have warmed us anew, and the cloud of temptation shall have passed away, which at this moment hides Him from us; and at the gentle breath of a softer breeze, the perfumes have begun to dissolve and flow, and give forth their fragrance. Then, and in that fragrance, shall we run [on the way of righteousness]. We shall run, I say, when the perfumes are breathed upon us, for the torpor in which we now are shall be dissipated, and devotion shall be reawakened in us, so that we shall have no need to be drawn on, but under the influence of that sweet fragrance shall advance of our own accord. But now, and until that happy change, draw me, and I will run after Thee. Do you perceive that he who walks in the Spirit does not remain always in one state, nor make progress always with the same ease, because the way of man, as the Scripture declares, is not in his own power; but that he forgets the things which are behind, and presses forward to those which are before, now with more energy, and now with less, according as the Holy Spirit, who is the Dispenser of all graces, bestows them upon him with greater or less liberality? I believe that if you well examine your own selves, you will find what I have said confirmed by your own inward experience.

5. When, therefore, you feel yourself affected with torpor, hikewarmness, and weariness, do not on that account give way to unbelief, nor desist from spiritual exercises, but seek the Hand of Him who is able to help, and, after the example of the Bride, entreat that you may be drawn after Him, until you are reawakened and reanimated by grace, and thus you become more cheerful and vigorous; you are enabled to run [the race that is set before you], and you say, / have run the way of Thy Commandments, since Thou hast set my heart at liberty (Ps. cxix. 32). But though you should rejoice in the grace of God, as long as it is present, do not, nevertheless, count upon that gift as if you held it by a right of inheritance, and be as secure of it as if you could not possibly lose it, lest suddenly God should draw back His Hand and withdraw His grace, and you should fall into excessive discouragement and sorrow. Do not ever say in your abundance, I shall never be moved (Ps. xxx. 6), for fear lest you should also be obliged to make use with grief of the words which follow: Thou didst hide Thy Face, and I was troubled. You will be cured rather, if you are wise, by following the counsel of the Wise — to be not unmindful of good things in the day of evil, nor of evil things in the day of good (Ecclus. xi. 25).

6. Do not, then, in your day of strength, suffer yourself to feel secure, but lift up your voice towards God with the prophet, and say: Forsake me not when my strength faileth me (Ps. lxxi. 9). On the other hand, be consoled in time of temptation, and say with the Bride: Draw me, and I will run after Thee: we will run in the fragrance of Thy perfumes. Thus hope will not desert you in the evil day, nor Providence be wanting to you in the day of prosperity; you will retain, among the changeableness of earthly conditions, [which are] at one time prosperous, at another adverse, as it were an image of eternity; I mean to say that you will maintain this equableness of spirit, and a constancy not to be shaken by any event; you will at all times bless God, and will thus make good for yourself a position, so to speak, of immovable stability among the changing events and certain disappointments of this inconstant world, until you shall begin to be renewed, and to take upon you once more that ancient and glorious likeness of God, who is eternal, with whom is no changeableness, neither shadow of turning (James i. 17). Thus as He is so shalt thou be, even in this world; neither cast down in adversity nor in prosperity made careless. It is in this, I say, that man, that creature so noble, made in the image and likeness of God who created him, indicates that he is even now on the point of regaining the dignity of his ancient honour, when he regards it as unworthy of him to be conformed to this perishing world; and chooses rather, according to the precept of St. Paul, to be transformed by the renewing of his mind (Rom. xii. 2) into that likeness in which he knows that he was first created. And in this way he even compels the things of this world, which were, in fact, created on his account, to conform themselves to him, as it is becoming they should do; and thus all things begin to work together for good, and to regain, as it were, the form which is theirs, and natural to them, rejecting that [present one] which is degraded, and recognising their Lord, for whose service they were created;

7. On this account I think that the saying which the Only Begotten Son of God uttered of Himself, that He, if He were lifted up from the earth would draw all things unto Him (John xii. 32), may be applied also to all His brethren — that is, to those whom the Father has foreknown and predestinated to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the Firstborn among many brethren. I, then, even I, my brethren, am able boldly to say, ' If I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all things unto me.' Nor is it a rash thing of me to make use of the words of Him of whom J put on the likeness. If it be thus, then the rich of this world ought not to think that the brethren of Christ, because they hear Christ saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is tilt kingdom of heaven (Matt. v. 3), possess heavenly things alone, because those only seem to be mentioned in the promise. They possess earthly things also; and having indeed nothing, yet possess all things. They do not beg for them, as those who are poor and miserable, but possess them as masters; and are so much the more the masters of them as they are less desirous to obtain them. For the whole world is a store of riches to the man who has faith. Evidently the whole world; for whether he be in prosperity or in adversity, all things serve him equally, and work together for his good

8. Thus, then, the man who is avaricious hungers for the things of this world like a beggar, while he who has faith despises them as their lord. The one, while he possesses them, is their servant; the other, while despising them, uses them for good Ask some one of those who pant with an insatiable heart for earthly riches, what is his opinion of those who sold all their goods and gave to the poor, and whether they did wisely or no. Doubtless he will reply that they did wisely. Ask him again why he does not himself practise what he approves in others. ' I cannot,' he will reply. Wherefore? Plainly because avarice is the mistress of his heart, and will not permit him; because he is not free; because the things which he seems to possess are not his; nor is he himself his own master. If they are truly yours, try to put them to profitable use; and in exchange for earthly possessions obtain heavenly. If you are not able to do this, then confess that you are not the master but the servant of your money — only the keeper of it, not the possessor. In short, you suit yourself to your purse as a slave to his mistress; and just as such an one is obliged of necessity to be glad or to be sorrowful according to the mood of his mistress, so you: when your pouch is swelling with gain, your spirits rise; and they fall similarly when it shrinks. For you are stricken with sorrow when that is exhausted, and when it is replenished are filled with joy, or, rather, puffed up with pride. Such is the man who is avaricious. But as for us, let us strive to imitate the freedom and the constancy of the Bride, who, being well instructed in all things, and preserving in her heart the teaching of Wisdom, knows how to endure both abundance and penury. When she entreats that she may be drawn onward, she shows that what she needs is, not money, but spiritual strength; and, on the other hand, when she consoles herself with the hope of the return of grace, she proves that even in privations she holds fast her faith.

9. She says then: Draw me, we will run after Thee: we will run in the fragrance of Thy perfumes. And what wonder is it that she needs to be drawn onward when she is following the footsteps of a giant? Who is able to come up with Him who strides upon the mountains, who leaps over the hills? His Word, saith the Psalmist, runneth very swiftly (Ps. cxlvii. 15). She is not capable of keeping pace with, or of rivalling the speed of, one who rejoiceth as a giant to run His course (Ps. xix. 5); that is not possible to her powers, and therefore it is that she prays to be drawn onward. * I am weary/ she says; 1 1 am sinking from fatigue; desert me not, but draw me after Thee, that I may not begin to wander after other companions, or to run hither and thither, as in uncertainty. Draw me after Thee; for ic were better for me that Thou shouldest keep me close to Thee, even by the use of a measure of violence, by making me afraid with Thy threatenings, or causing me to smart with chastisements, than that Thou shouldest spare me in my evil and slothful security, and leave me to myself. Draw me after Thee, even if it be in some sort against my will, that Thou mayst make me willing; draw me, even in my sloth and slowness, that Thou mayst make me ready and swift. A time may come when I shall no longer need one to draw me onward, since we shall run voluntarily and with all willingness. But now I am not able to run alone, though alone I make my petition to be helped forward; let the maidens also run with me. Let us run together, let us run with equal pace; I, aroused by the fragrance of Thy perfumes; they by my example and my exhortation: and thus let us all run in the fragrance of Thy perfumes.' The Bride has her imitators, as she herself is the imitator of Jesus Christ. And, therefore, she does not say, as of one person only, * I will run/ but * We will run.'

10. But the question arises, wherefore the Bride, in imploring to be drawn onward, does not similarly join the maidens with herself, but says, Draw me, and not ' Draw us/ What then? Does the Bride need to be drawn, and the maidens, do they not need? O thou who art beautiful, and happy, and blessed, explain to me the reason for this distinction. Wherefore dost thou say Draw me, and not us i Ts it that thou enviest them this honour? God forbid. Nor wouldst thou (if that were the case) have added that they with thee would follow after the Bridegroom if thou hadst wished to follow Him alone. Why, then, shouldst thou have added in the plural, 'we will run/ when thy request was in the singular, 'draw me'? Charity, she replies, would have it thus. Learn from me by this word to hope for a twofold blessing from on high in spiritual exercises; that is, for correction and consolation. The one has its sphere of action without, the other visits us within. The former represses presumption, the latter raises up the heart and bestows confidence; the one workcth humility, the other consoles in discouragement; the one gives prudence, the other devotion. The former teaches the fear of the Lord; the latter tempers that very fear with an infusion of salutary joy, as it is written: Let my heart rejoice, that it may fear Thy Name (Ps. lxxxv. ii, Vulg. and Douay). And again: Serve the Lord wWi fear, and rejoice with trembling (Ps. ii. n).

1 1. Now we are drawn onward when we are exercised by trials and tribulations; but we run forward when we are visited with inward consolations and secret inspirations, and breathe, as it were, an atmosphere of perfume and fragrance. That, then, which appears hard and austere I reserve for myself, as to one who is strong, and healthy, and perfect; and I say, speaking for myself alone, Draw me. That which is sweet and pleasant I share with you, as with one who is weak, and I say, We will run, I know that young souls (adolcscentulas) are tender and delicate, and unfitted to sustain temptations, and, therefore, I desire that they should run with me, but not that they should be drawn with me; I wish to have them for companions of my consolation, not of my labour and trouble. Wherefore? Because they are weak, and I fear lest they should fail and fall by the way. But as for me, O my Spouse, take me, train me, try me, draw me after Thee, for I am prepared to suffer all chastisements, and I am strong to endure them. But as for the rest, let us run together; alone I will be drawn onward, but together let us run. Yea, let us run, but in the fragrance of thy perfumes, not in any confidence of our own merits. We have not the presumption to believe that we can run in the greatness of our own strength, but we trust in the multitude of Thy mercies. For if ever we have run, and have been able to will voluntarily to do so, yet it was not of man that willeth, nor of man that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy (Rom. ix. 16). Let that mercy be turned towards us and we shall run. Thou, indeed, O Lord, dost run in the greatness of Thy strength, rejoicing in it as a giant; but we cannot run at all unless we derive strength from the breathing of Thy perfumes. Thou, whom the Father has anointed with the oil of gladness above Thy fellows (Ps. xlv. 7), dost run in [the strength of] that unction itself, but we only in the fragrance which it exhales. Thine is the fulness of it, but ours its fragrance. This would be the time to discharge the promise which I remeiriber to have made long ago, to speak to you of the perfumes of the Bridegroom, if the length to which this sermon has already extended did not forbid it. I will defer that, then, to another time, for the importance of the subject does not allow it to be confined within inadequate limits. Pray the Lord of Divine unction that He will deign to render acceptable the freewill offering of my lips, and that I may be able, at your desire, to recall to your minds the remembrance of the sweetness of His abundant grace; of the grace, I say, which is in Him who is the Bridegroom of His Church, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.