Sermons on the Song of Songs

able, how a contest against the Church may be carried on by her children in a spirit of hostility, and yet how the harm which they inflict may be for her good; for there is nothing more agreeable than that those who intend to do harm should do good even against their will. The former interpretation given of the words covers either sense, because the Church has never been without those who have been well disposed towards her, or without others who have been ill disposed; and each of these classes of people have attacked her, though from precisely opposite motives; yet each kind of attacks have been to her profit In fact, she is able so to glory in having profited by the trials which she has endured at the hand of her rivals, that for one vineyard, which they have seemed to have taken away from her, she rejoices in having been set over many. This, she says, is the benefit that they have done in contending against me and my vineyard, those, I mean, who say, Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof (Vs. cxxxvii. 7), namely, that instead of one, I can number many vineyards as mine. It is that she says in effect, when she continues, My own vineyard I have not kept, as if she would explain the reason why she is no longer the keeper of one vineyard, but of many; and that is, indeed, the literal sense of the words.

2. But if we follow it simply, and are contented with the most obvious meaning which occurs to us, we shall consider that the Holy Scripture intends to speak here of those earthly and material vineyards, which, as we see daily, receive from the dew of heaven and the fatness of the earth the elements from which they pour forth wine, in which is excess and riot (luxuria); and thus we draw out no sense befitting and worthy, I do not say of the Bride of the Lord merely, but of any modest and retiring matron, from the words of the Scripture. For what sort of fitness is there in married women to undertake the custody of vineyards? And even if that were otherwise, what reason have we for supposing that the Church was ever destined to such an office? Does God take a particular care of earthly vineyards? But if we interpret in a spiritual manner, and understand by the vineyards Churches, that is, faithful nations, according to the thought of the Prophet, when he says, The vineyard of the Lord of Hosts is the house of Israel (Is. v. 7), then we shall, perhaps, begin to perceive how it is by no means unworthy of the Bride to become keeper of the vineyards.

3. Furthermore, I think that we shall find in this a veritable prerogative, and one of no small value, if anyone takes the trouble to consider carefully how greatly she has extended her bounds in vineyards of this kind in every part of the world since the day when she was attacked in Jerusalem, and driven forth by the children of her mother, with those who were of that her new plantation, I mean the multitude of them who believed, of whom we read that they were of one heart and of one soul (Acts iv. 32). And it is that vineyard which she here confesses that she had not kept, but that did not turn to her discredit; for that was not in the persecution so torn up thence that it could not be planted elsewhere, and let out to other husbandmen, who should render up its fruits in their seasons. No, indeed, it did not perish; it was but planted in other grounds, where it grew and waxed great, as the Lord gave it His blessing. And now lift up your eyes and see if the hills are not covered with the shadaiv of it, and the boughs thereof like the goodly cedars; if it has not sent out her boughs unto t/ie sea, and her branches unto the river (Ps. lxxx. 10, n). Nor is that wonderful, for it is God's husbandry, it is God's building (i Cor. iii. 9). It is He who makes it fertile, who extends it, who trains and who prunes it, so that it may bring forth more fruit When has the care and labour of Him, whose Right Hand planted it, ever been wanting to it? Assuredly that vine, which is the Lord Himself, of which the Apostles are the branches, and the Father the Husbandman (John xv. 1, 2, 5), cannot be neglected. In faith it is planted, and rooted in charity; the soil in which it grows is stirred with the hoe of discipline, manured with the tears of penitents, watered with the exhortations of preachers; and thus it gives wine in abundance, wine which makes glad, but does not inebriate; wine vhich is full of sweetness, void of impurity. This wine not only renders glad the heart of man, but of it the angels drink with joy; for they rejoice in the penitence and conversion of sinners, they thirst for the salvation of men. The tears of penitents are to them a wine which has the odour of life, the savour of grace, the taste of forgiveness, the joy fulness of reconciliation, the wholesomeness of returning innocence, the sweetness of a conscience rendered peaceful.

4. Then, again, from this single vine, which the violence of a cruel persecution seemed to have destroyed, how many shoots have been planted and have flourished in every part of the world? And over all these the Bride has been set as guardian, that she might not sorrow, because her first vineyard she did not keep. Be consoled, O daughter of Sion; if blindness in part has happened unto Israel, what hast thou lost by this? Reverence in silence the mystery; do not lament it as a loss. Rather make broad thy bosom, and gather in the fulness of the Gentiles. Say to the cities of Judah: // was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles (Acts xiii. 46). The offer was made by God to Moses, that if he would give up a people which had quickly turned aside out of the way of God's commandments, and abandon it to the Divine vengeance, that he himself should become a great nation; but he refused. Wherefore? Because he felt for that people an exceeding love, which held him in close attachment to them; and because he did not seek to advance his own interests but the honour of God, nor cared for that which should profit himself, but for that which should be to the good of many. That was his great desire.

5. For my part I think that in this was a secret design of Providence, and that this gift, so great and so excellent, was reserved to the Bride, so that she, and not Moses, should be developed into a great nation. For it was not expedient that a friend of the Bridegroom should prematurely snatch from the Bride her benediction. Therefore it was not Moses, but the new-made Bride to whom it was said: Go ye into all the world, and preach tlie Gospel to every creature (Mark xvi. 15); it was she, I say, who was sent forth [to grow] into a great nation. For can any nation be greater than all the world? And all the world easily yielded to her who offered grace and brought with her peace. That grace was far different to the Law. In how strong a contrast did the sweetness of the one and the austerity of the other present themselves to every conscience? Who could look with the same eye upon her who condemned and her who consoled, her who punished and her who forgave, her who struck with revenging hand and her who embraced with gentle arms P1 It was not possible to receive with the same ardour the darkness and the light, war and peace, judgment and mercy, the shadow and the reality, the rod of punishment and the heritage of reward, the restraining bridle and the joy-giving kiss. Heavy were the hands of Moses, as Aaron and Hur experienced (Exod. xvii. 12); heavy was the yoke of the Law, as the Apostles themselves bore witness when they declared that neither their fathers nor they were able to bear it (Acts xv. 10); in truth, a heavy yoke; and the reward to be earned by bearing it was but a paltry one, for it did not extend beyond the earth. It was for these reasons that Moses was not sent forth [to grow] into a great nation. But thou, O holy Church, who art our mother, who hast the promise, not only of the life that now is, but of that which is to come (1 Tim. iv. 8), shalt obtain an easy and willing welcome from all, because of the double grace which thou bearest, that thy yoke is light and easy, and the realm of glory assured to thee is great and illustrious. If thou wert driven from a single city thou hast been welcomed by the whole world; as well because thy promises are engaging as because thy commandments are not alarming or grievous. Why dost thou still mourn the loss of one vineyard, when it has been repaid to thee with so great usury? As a recompense to thee because thou hast been abandoned, and hated, so that none passed through thee, it is said: I will make thee an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations: thou shalt also suck the milk of the Gentiles, and shalt suck the breast of kings; and thou shalt know that I the Lord am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob (Is. lx. 15, 16). In such a sense as this, then, it is that the Bride speaks of herself as having been made keeper of the vineyards, and having failed to keep her own.

6. I am accustomed, when occasion is given to me by these words, and understanding souls to be meant by vines, I am accustomed to blame myself for having undertaken the cure of souls when I am not sufficient to guard and keep my own soul. And if you approve of this interpretation, notice also, that we may go on to call faith the root of the vine; the various virtues the branches; good works the bunch or cluster of grapes which it bears; and devotion the wine they 1 Plectentem et amplectentem.

yield. For as there can be no branch without the root, so without faith there is no virtue. For without faith it is impossible to please God (Heb. xi. 6); nay, it will be perhaps impossible to be otherwise than displeasing to Him, since whatever is not of faith is sin (Rom. xiv. 23). It behoved those persons, then, who set me as keeper in their vineyards, to have considered previously whether I had kept my own. Yet, alas! how long did that remain untilled and desert, and became a mere solitude! Upon it the vine had failed, and the vigorous shoots of the virtues had been dried up because its faith was sterile. There was, indeed, faith, but it was dead. For how could it be otherwise than dead without good works? And that, indeed, was the case with me during my life in the world. It is true that afterwards, when I was converted unto the Lord, I began to keep my vineyard better, by a very little, yet not as I ought to have done. And who is, in fact, capable of doing this? Not such was the holy Psalmist, who said: Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain (Ps. cxxvii. 1). To what snares of him who shooteth his arrows from his lurking-places against the innocent do I remember that I was then exposed 1 How many times, O my vineyard, hast thou been robbed, and by unnumbered subtle devices, and that at the very time when I was endeavouring with increased vigilance and care to guard thee! How many and how precious were the clusters of grapes — that is to say, the good works, which either were choked by anger, or borne away by feelings of pride, or trodden under foot and defiled by vainglory! How great the ravages which carnal greediness, or lukewarmness of spirit, or weakness and timidity of disposition, or sudden temptation, have worked in my soul! In such a state was I, and yet they set me as keeper of the vineyards, not considering what I had done, and was doing, with my own; not listening to the accusations and warnings of that master in the spiritual life who said: If a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the Church of God? (1 Tim. iii. 5).

7. I wonder at the rash boldness of very many people who do not gather anything from their own vineyards, unless it be briers and thorns, and yet do not fear to obtrude themselves as keepers even over the vineyards of the Lord. Robbers they are, and thieves, not faithful guardians, nor laborious vine-dressers. But let us not occupy ourselves longer with these. Woe to me also for the peril in which the vineyard of my soul is even now — indeed, even more now than heretofore, inasmuch as being engrossed with the care of many, it is impossible but that I should become less careful, less occupied in loving thoughtfulness for that one. No opportunity is given to me to surround it by a protecting hedge, or to dig out the [place for] the wine-press. Alas! the enclosing wall of it is broken down, so that all they who pass by pluck her grapes (Ps. lxxx. 12). It lies open and exposed on all sides to sadness, to wrath, to impatience. Certain little foxes of pressing necessities, which are, so to speak, constantly gnawing, demolish and lay it waste; it is overrun in all quarters with anxieties, suspicions, cares, and there is scarcely an hour that is free from the crowd of discordant applicants, from the trouble and care of business. I have no power to stop their coming, and no possibility of refusing to receive them; and they do not leave me even the time to pray. What shower of tears that I could hope to pour forth would suffice to moisten and melt away the sterility of my soul? (Ps. xxxv. 12). I wished to say 'of my vineyard but I followed the words of the Psalm from habit, and the meaning is the same. Nor do I regret an error which draws my attention to the analogy between the two; for the subject of the discourse is not the vineyard, but the soul. Therefore he is thinking of the soul when he speaks of the vineyard, and by the name and under the figure of the one, he deplores the sterility of the other. With what tears, then, can I water my vineyard, which is so barren? All its branches are dried up for want of moisture; they lie on the ground, and bear no fruit, for want of the life-giving sap which should sustain them. O good Lord Jesus! Thou knowest what bundles of these twigs [of dried and perished good works] the fire of contrition which burns in my heart consumes every day in the burnt-sacrifice which I offer to Thee! Receive, I entreat, the sacrifice of a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, Thou wilt not despise (Ps. li. 17).

8. It is thus, then, that I apply, in my imperfect manner, the present passage to myself. But perfect will be everyone who is enabled in another sense to say, My own vineyard I have not kept; namely, in that sense in which the Saviour says in the Gospel, He that loseth his life for My sake shall find it (Matt. x. 39). The person is evidently fit and worthy to be set as keeper over the vineyards, who is not prevented from, or even hindered in, the care of his own vineyard, by all the diligence and carefulness which he gives to watching over others committed to his charge; while at the same time he seeks not the advancement of his own interests, or that which is of advantage to himself, but that which is useful and beneficial to many. Without doubt, if the care of so many vineyards (that is, souls belonging to the circumcision) was confined to St. Peter, it was because he was ready to go both into prison, and to death (Luke xxii. 33), so little was he restrained by the love of his own vineyard, that is, of his soul, from the care of those intrusted to his charge. It was also on a similar ground that so great a space of vineyards among the nations was confided to St Paul; because, so far from being too much engrossed in the care of his own, he was ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the Name of the Lord Jesus (Acts xxii. 33). He said, in fact, None of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself (xx. 24). It was to form a right estimate of things, to regard nothing that belonged to him as to be preferred to his own self.

0. How many persons there are who have preferred even the meanest of things, a little money, to their salvation! But St. Paul did not prefer to it even his life. / count not my life, he said, dearer than myself (pretiosiorem quam me, Vulg.) Do you, then, O Apostle, make a difference between yourself and your life? (animam — soul; Douay * life '). You are prudent in regarding yourself as of more value than anything that is yours. But in what sense is your life not yourself? I suppose that because St. Paul was then walking in the Spirit, and in mind consenting to the law of God, that it was good (Rom. vii. 16); he therefore regarded this, his mind, as the principal and supreme entity in himself, and thought it more proper to call it [himself], than to give that name to any other element whatsoever in his nature. As for the remainder, which is plainly of an inferior character, and to be attached to an inferior and commoner essence (which is the body), to which belongs, not only the function of life and sensibility, but also of self preservation and self support; the spiritual man, considering it, I say, an unworthy thing to give to this sensuous and carnal nature the name of himself, judged it more fitting to rank it in the class of things appertaining to him, than to call his entire personality by the name of it. When I speak of ' myself/ he says, understand that which is more excellent in me; that in which also I stand by the grace of God, that is to say, my mind and my reason. When I speak of 'my life' or 'my soul,' understand that lower principle which animates my flesh and which participates in its concupiscence. That was ' me,' indeed, once, but it is so no longer; inasmuch as I walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit (Rom. viii. 4). For / live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me (Gal. ii. 20). It is I, according to the spirit (mentem), but not I, according to the flesh. For what, if even now my soul shares in carnal desires? It is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me (Rom. vii. 17). And therefore it is I said that it was not indeed I, but that which is carnal in me; and that is no other than my [fleshly] soul (anima). For in truth the carnal affections make a portion of the soul, as does that life, which it communicates to the body. This, then, is the life (or soul) which St. Paul held of little value in comparison with himself, prepared as he was, not only to be bound, but also to die at Jerusalem for the Lord, and thus to lose his life, according to the Lord's precept (Matt. x. 39).

10. You also, if you abandon your own will; if you perfectly renounce the pleasures of the body; if you crucify the flesh, with its desires and lusts, and mortify your members which are upon the earth, you will show yourself to be an imitator of St. Paul, in that you do not regard your life as dearer than yourself; you will show yourself also a disciple of Christ, by even losing it, unto salvation. And indeed you wili act more prudently by losing it in order to preserve it, than by so preserving it as to lose it. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it (Matt. xvi. 25). What do you say to this, you who are close observers of the quality of your provisions,1 but negligent of your own characters? Hippocrates and his followers teach how 1 See notes to Ep. 345.

to preserve [our] lives in this world; but Christ and His disciples teach us how to lose them. Which of the two do you elect to follow as your master? But that person makes it very clear which he has chosen whose discourse is all of his ailments, of this complaint in eyes or head, or that in chest or stomach. Each of them, without doubt, speaks what he has learned from the master he has preferred. Have you read these minute symptoms in the Gospel, or in the Prophets, or in the writings of the Apostles? Flesh and blood have certainly revealed to you this wisdom, not the Spirit of the Father; for this wisdom is of the flesh. And hear what they who are our physicians think of it: The wisdom of the flesh, they say, is death (Rom. viii. 5, 7), and again, The wisdom of the flesh is enmity against God. Do you think that I ought to propose to you the opinion of Hippocrates or Galen, or, forsooth, that of the school of Epicurus? I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, and I speak to the disciples of Jesus Christ. If I had brought before you teaching other than His, I should have done very wrongly. Epicurus strives for the pleasure of the body, Hippocrates for its health; but my Master bids us to contemn both the one object and the other. Hippocrates uses all his efforts to sustain the life of the soul in the body; Epicurus seeks out, and teaches others to seek out, whatever can afford pleasure and delight during this life; but the Saviour warns us to lose this life [so that we may gain it].

11. What other advice have you ever heard in the school of Jesus Christ than this which was just now repeated: He that loveth his life shall lose it (John xii. 25)? Shall lose it, He says, whether by laying it down as a martyr, or by afflicting it as a penitent. Although to mortify the deeds of the flesh by the Spirit is a kind of martyrdom, and it is done with a spiritual weapon which does not, indeed, excite so much horror as that with which the limbs of the body are cut and carved, but is not less painful, since its action continues much longer., Do you see how, by this saying of the Master, the wisdom of the flesh is condemned — that wisdom, I mean, which either ministers to the desire for bodily pleasure, or which cares for the good health of the body beyond what is needful? To show us that the true wisdom does not expend itself upon pleasures, a wise man teaches (Job xxviii. 13, Douay) that it is not even found in the land of them who live in delights. While he who has found it cries: I have loved it [wisdom] more than health and beauty (Wisd. vii. 10). But if above health and beauty, how much more above pleasure and shameful enjoyment? But even though a man has severed himself from \ pleasures, what does this profit if he expends his cares and thoughts every day in investigating differences of constitution, or in devising variations in the cooking of food? ' Beans,' gravely reflects such a person as this, 'produce wind; cheese is heavy upon the stomach; milk causes headache; the chest will not bear the drinking of water; cabbages nourish melancholy; leeks inflame the bile; fishes from ponds, or from stagnant and muddy water, do not at all agree with my constitution.' What then? Is there nothing to be found in the rivers, in the fields, in the gardens, in the cellars, which you can eat?

1 2. Consider. I pray you, that you are a monk, not a physician; and that it is not your business to make a study of constitutions, but to obey your rule. Have consideration, I entreat, first for your own quiet, then for the labour of those who minister to your wants; do not increase the charges upon the house — have some regard to conscience. To conscience, I say, not your own, but his who, sitting opposite you, eats what is set before him, and murmurs at your unaccountable abstinence. For he is scandalized, either at your hateful superstition, or at what he perhaps thinks the hardhearted ness of him whose duty it is to make needful provision for you. Your brother, I repeat, is scandalized at your singularity; he thinks you superstitious in that you require superfluities, or he accuses me of being unfeeling in that I do not seek out and provide the food necessary for you. It is to no purpose that some people flatter themselves that they have precedent in their favour by the example of St. Paul, who bade his disciple drink no longer water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake and thine often infirmities (i Tim. v. 23). They ought to notice, in the first place, that it was not to himself that the Apostle gave that direction; and, in the next, that the disciple did not make this request on his own behalf. Then, it was not to a monk that this direction was given, but to a Bishop, whose life was of great importance to the nascent and still tender Church. This was Timothy. Give me another Timothy, and I will feed him even upon gold if you wish it, and give him precious cordial to drink. But it is you who make these dispensations, for your own self, and that through tenderness for your own feelings. That dispensation of yours, granted to yourself, is, I confess, a matter for suspicion to me, and I strongly suspect that carnal prudence is deceiving you under the cover and by the name of discretion. And I desire, at least, to admonish you if you allege the authority of the Apostle for drinking wine, that you do not overlook the limitation which he adds of * a little.1 And so enough of that subject. Let us return to the Bride, and let us learn from her not to keep our vineyards merely for our own good,1 especially we who seem to have been made keepers of the vineyards of Jesus Christ our Lord, the Bridegroom of the Church, who is above all, God blessed for ever. Amen.