Sermons on the Song of Songs

CHRIST COMMUNICATES HIMSELF TO THE HOLY SOUL AS BRIDEGROOM, AND TO THE SOUL THAT IS WEAK AND IMPERFECT AS PHYSICIAN. OF THE MOODS OF THE SOUL — HOW THEY DIFFER FROM EACH OTHER, AND FROM WHAT CAUSES.

^T^ELL me where Thou feedest, where Thou makest Thy flock to j_ rest at noon (i. 7). This is the point where we are; from hence we proceed with our subject. But before commencing to speak of that vision and interview, I think it well to recapitulate, in a few words, the other modes of vision already treated of, and to show how they may be spiritually applied by us according to the prayers and merits of each; so that having fully grasped them, if God give us the grace so to do, we may follow more easily, and with fuller understanding, what remains to be said upon the subject. But that is very difficult indeed; for although the words in which those visions or similitudes are described are corporeal, and describe objects in the physical sphere, yet they are intended to suggest things spiritual to our minds, and for this reason the causes and meanings of them are to be searched by the spiritual faculty. And who is competent to understand or to sound so many different affections and modes of progress in the spirit by which the manifold grace of the Divine Bridegroom is manifested? Yet if we enter into ourselves, and the Holy Spirit deigns to show us by His light that which by His continual working in us He does not disdain to bring about in our souls, I think we shall not remain entirely without understanding of these deep things; for I trust that we have received, not the spirit of this world, but the Spirit which is of God, that we may know the things which are freely given to us by God (i Cor. ii. 12).

2. If, then, any of us finds it, with the Psalmist, good for him to draw near to God (Ps. lxxiii. 28), and to speak more plainly, if any among us is so filled with an earnest longing [for those things that are above] that he desires to be dissolved and be with Christ; but desires it vehemently, thirsts for it ardently, and, without ceasing, dwells upon the hope of it: he shall, without doubt, receive the Word, and in no other form than that of the Bridegroom in the time of visitation; that is to say, in the hour when he shall feel himself in wardly embraced, as it were, by the arms of wisdom, and shall receive a sweet inpouring of the Divine Love. For the desire of his heart shall be granted unto him, though he is still in the body as in a place of pilgrimage, and though only in part for a time, and that a short time. For when [the Lord] has been sought in watching and prayers, with strenuous effort,1 with showers of tears, He will at length present Himself to the soul; but suddenly, when it supposes that it has gained His Presence, He will glide away. Again He comes to the soul that follows after Him with tears; He allows Himself to be regained, but not to be retained, and anon He passes away out of its very hands. Yet if the devout soul shall persist in prayers and tears, He will at length return to it; He will not deprive it of the desire of its bps. but will speedily disappear again, and not return unless He be sought again with the whole desire of the heart. Thus, then, even in this body the joy of the Presence of the Bridegroom is frequently felt; but not the fulness of His Presence, because though His appearance renders the heart glad, the alternation of His absence affects it with sadness. And this the Beloved must of necessity endure, until, having laid down the burden of an earthly body, she shall be borne up upon the pinions, so to speak, of her earnest desires, and fly away, passing freely over the plains of contemplation as a bird through the air, and following in spirit her Beloved, whithersoever He goeth, without anything to hinder or retard

3. Nevertheless, He will not present Himself, even in passing, to every soul; but to that soul only which is shown by great devotion, vehement desire, and tender affection, to be His Bride, and to be worthy that the Word in all His beauty should visit her as a Bridegroom. For he who is not as yet in that state, but still is touched with repentance at the remembrance of his sins, and, speaking in the bitterness of his soul, says unto God: Do not condemn me (Job x. 2); or who perhaps suffers still from violent temptations, being drawn away and enticed by his own concupiscence — such a soul as this needs not a Bridegroom, but a Physician; and on this account receives, not, indeed, approval and tenderness, but only remedies, oil and unguents, for the cure of its wounds. Is not this the condition in which we often find ourselves in our prayers, we who are every day either tried by the passions which are in us now, or touched with remorse for those which were in us formerly? From what a degree of bitter sorrow hast Thou often delivered me by Thy appearance in my soul, O good Lord Jesus! How many times, after having poured forth tears of distress, sobs and groans, untold, Thou hast anointed my wounded conscience with the unction of Thy mercy, and with the oil of gladness hast besprinkled me! How often have I betaken myself to prayer, despairing almost of my Salvation, and it has sent me back full of joy and confidence of pardon! Those who are similarly afflicted know well that the Lord Jesus is indeed a Physician who healeth those that are of contrite heart, and giveth medicine to heal their sickness (Ps. cxlvii. 3). And those who have not had this experience, let them believe what He says of Himself: The Spirit of the Lord hath anointed Me, to preach good tidings unto the meek, to bind up the broken-hearted (Is. lxi. 2;» Luke iv. 17-21). If they still doubt, let them draw near and make trial of Him, and so learn in their own persons the meaning of that saying: I will have mercy, and not sacrifice (Matt. ix. 13). But let us continue the subject.

4. There are those who, being wearied with spiritual exercises, and fallen into lukewarmness, are in a kind of faintness of spirit, and walk in sadness along the ways of the Lord. Their heart is full of dryness and weariness in doing what is enjoined upon them, and their murmurs are frequent They complain that their days and their nights are long, and they say, with holy Job: When I lie doivn, I say, WJien shall I arise, and the night be gone f and I am full of tossings to and fro until the dawning of the day (Job vii. 4). When a soul is in such a state as that, if the Lord, touched with compassion, draws near to it upon the road on which we walk, and He who is from heaven begins to speak of heavenly things, or to sing to us some sweet canticle from among the songs of Sion, to relate also somewhat of the City of God, the peace of that City, the eternity of that peace, of the fixedness of that eternity — I declare to you that the pleasantness of that narrative will be as a soft couch to that wearied and slumbering soul; it will drive away every trace of aversion from the mind, and of weariness from the body, of the hearer. Does it not seem to you that he who wrote: My soul hath slumbered through heaviness: strengthen Thou me in Thy words (Ps. cxix. 28, Douay), must have experienced this trial, and have prayed for this very succour? And when he has obtained it, will he not cry out: O how love I Thy Law! it is my meditation all the day (Ps. cxix. 97)? For our meditations on the Word who is the Bridegroom, on His glory, His greatness, His power, His grace, are so many words spoken by Him to our souls. And not only when He speaks, but when we meditate upon and revolve in our minds with eagerness His testimonies and the judgments of His mouth, when we meditate in His Law night and day, let us know for certain that the Bridegroom is present, and is speaking to us, so that the sweetness of His discourse may prevent our being wearied by our labours.

5. Do you, then, when you feel yourself to be dwelling upon such thoughts as these, not suppose that these thoughts are from yourself, but recognise that they are spoken within you by Him who says by the Prophet: I ivho speak righteousness (Is. lxiii. 1). For the thoughts of our own mind have a great resemblance to the words of the Truth speaking within us; nor is it easy to distinguish what the heart produces of itself from within, from that which it hears spoken; unless a man bears carefully in mind what the Lord says in the Gospel: Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts (Matt. xv. 9); and again, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts 1 (Matt. ix. 4); and again, When lie [the devil] speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his oitm (John ix. 44). And the Apostle remarks, We are not sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves (that is to say, anything good1); but our sufficiency is of God (2 Cor. iii. 5). When, then, we dwell in thought upon things evil, the thought is of ourselves; but if upon good, it is by the inspiration of God. In the one kind of thoughts our heart speaks; but to the other it listens. /, says the Psalmist, will hear what the Lord God will speak in me: for He will speak peace unto His people (Ps. lxxxv. 9, Douay). Therefore it is God who speaks within us thoughts of peace, piety, righteousness; nor do we think those things of ourselves, but hear them spoken with us. Out of the heart there come murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies (Matt. xv. 19); these we do not hear, but they are the utterance of our own hearts. For the fool hath said in his heart, There is no God (Ps. xiv. 1). And because of this the wicked hath contemned God: because he hath said in his heart, Thou wilt not require it (Ps. x. 13). But there is still another kind of thoughts which are felt in the heart, but are not the utterance of the heart itself. For that does not come out of the heart, as do our thoughts. Nor is it that word of which we have been speaking namely, that which is spoken by God the Word: since this other kind of words is evil. It is sent forth by powers which are hostile to us, and consists of thoughts suggested to us by evil angels; such as, for instance, was that which, as we read, the devil sent into the heart 1 Subaudis, but subaudi is the reading of Tiraquellius.

of Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon, that he should betray his Lord (John xiii. 2).

6. But who is so skilled and watchful an observer either of the movements of his thoughts within, or of those that come to him from without, that in each forbidden desire he is able to distinguish between the malady of his own, or the wound inflicted by the serpent? To no mortal do I think this to be possible, except to him who has been enlightened by the Holy Spirit, and has thus received that special gift of grace which the Apostle, in enumerating it among other charismata, calls the discerning of spirits (1 Cor. xii. 10). Yet how greatly does it behove a man, as Solomon reminds us, to keep his heart with all diligence (Prov. iv. 23), and to observe all the movements within it with the most vigilant attention! Even when you are well skilled in this by long experience and frequent trial, yet you may not be able to discern and distinguish with unerring correctness between the evil that is inborn, and the evil that is introduced from without. For who can understand sins? (Ps. xviii. 13, Douay). Nor, after all, is it of great consequence to us to know whence an evil has come to us; that which is really of importance is to know that it is in us, if that be the fact; and from wheresoever it comes, our wisdom is to watch and pray, that we may not give the consent of our will unto it. From both one and the other kind of evil the prayer of the Psalmist asks deliverance: Cleanse Thou me from my secret faults, O Lord, and from those of others spare Thy servant (Vs. xviii. 13, 14, Douay). As for me, I am unable to impart to you that which I have not received. I can give you no precise rule, I confess, whereby to distinguish between the ideas emanating from your own heart, and those sown in it by the enemy. Both one and the other are evils; each of them comes from an evil cause; each of them is in the heart, yet they do not both come from the heart. I am sure that they are in me, though I am not sure which to attribute to my own heart, and which to an enemy. But from that inability arises, as I have said, no danger.

7. But there is another point in which it would be not only dangerous, but even fatal, to be deceived; and deservedly so, inasmuch as a plain rule is laid down for us, not to attribute to ourselves that which is of God in us, or to think the visit of the Word to us to be only the working of our own thoughts. For as far as good is different from evil, so far different are these two from each other; since evil cannot possibly come from the Word, nor good come from the human heart, unless it has been first conceived there by the Word; because a good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit (Matt. vii. 18). But I believe it has been sufficiently stated what is of God in our heart, and what is of ourselves; nor was that, I think, without need; and that it will serve to show those who are enemies to grace,1 that without grace the heart of man is not capable of thinking good thoughts, but that the capacity of doing so comes from God; and that the good things which it thinks are due to the voice of God in it, and are not its own offspring. Do you, then, if you hear His Voice, be no longer as if ignorant whence it cometh, or whither it goeth; but recognise that It comes forth from God, and into your heart. Only, take care that the word which comes forth from the Mouth of God does not return unto Him void, but prosper and accomplish all things for which He sent it, so that you, too, may be able to say, His grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain (i Cor. xv. 10). Happy the soul of which the Word is the inseparable companion, showing Himself accessible at all times; and who, being kept in continual delight by the sweetness of His companionship, frees himself without ceasing from every vice and tyranny of the flesh, redeeming the time, because the days are evil (Eph. v. 16). He shall not be cast down, he shall not be rendered weary; as says the Scripture, There shall no evil happen to t/ie just (Pro v. xii. 21).

8. But I think that the Lord [also] appears as a great Father of a family, or as a Sovereign of royal splendour, to those who, drawing near1 to Him with heart exalted, with greater liberty of spirit, and purity of conscience, and rendered more noble and courageous thereby, are accustomed to lift up their hearts to higher things. These are restless and eager to penetrate deeper mysteries, to attempt loftier achievements, to attain greater perfection, not in sensible things, but in sanctity. These, for the grandeur of their faith, are found worthy to be led forward into all fulness; and there is nothing so rare in all the treasure houses of wisdom that the Lord, who is the God of all knowledge, thinks fit to withdraw it from those heroic souls who thirst for truth, and are devoid of vanity. Such was Moses, who dared to say to God: If I have found grace in Thy sight... show me Thy glory (Exod. xxxiii. 17, 18). Such was Philip, who, for himself and his co-disciples, asked of the Lord that He would show them the Father (John xiv. 8); such, too, was Thomas, who refused to believe unless he should touch with his hand the wounds [of the nails], and the pierced Side of his Master (xx. 25). That was a want of faith, but it came from a greatness of soul which was wonderful in its way.2 Such also was David, who himself said to God: Afy heart said unto Thee, Thy Face, Lord, will I seek (Ps. xxvii. 8). Such souls aspire to great things because they are great; and because they aspire to them, they attain them, according to the word of promise made to them: Every place whereon the soles of your feet shall tread, shall be yours (Deut. xi. 24). For great faith merits great rewards; and you shall obtain the good things of the Lord, in proportion as you shall attain to set upon them the foot of an assured confidence.

9. Thus God speaks to Moses face to face, and it is his eminent reward to behold the Lord openly, not by types and figures, whilst to other Prophets He is said to make Himself known only in vision, and to speak to them in a dream (Numb. xii. 6-8). To Philip, again, according to his heartfelt petition, was shown the Father in the Son, from whom he received, without doubt, the instant reply: Philip, he who hath seen Me, hath seen the Father: and, / am in the Father, and the Father in Me (John xiv. 9, 10). Thomas He permitted to touch Him, according to the desire of his heart, and did not refuse him the request of his lips (xx. 27). What shall I say of David? Does it not signify that he was not left wholly without the granting of his prayer, where he says that he will not give sleep to his eyes, nor slumber to his eyelids, until he find out a place for the Lord (Ps. cxxxii. 4, 5). A great Bridegroom, then, will present Himself thus to great souls; and He will treat them magnificently, sending them His Light and His Truth; leading them on and conducting them at length to His holy mountain and into its tabernacles, so that one thus blessed may say: He that is Mighty hath done to me great things (Luke i. 49). His eyes shall see the King in His beauty (Is. xxxiii. 17); going before him towards oases in the desert, in which bloom the fragrant roses, and the lilies of the valleys, where are the pleasant shades of gardens, the gushing of silver fountains, the storehouses filled with all good things, the odours of perfumes, and lastly, the hidden precincts cf the chamber of the King.

10. These are the treasures of wisdom and knowledge which are hidden in the Bridegroom; these are the life-giving sustenance prepared for the refreshment of holy souls. Blessed is the man whose longing for them has been satisfied to the full! Of this only let him be warned, that he ought not to wish to possess alone gifts which would suffice for the needs of many. For if, after all these things, the Bridegroom is described as appearing in the character of a pastor, it is perhaps to warn him who has obtained such great gifts that his duty is to feed the simpler ones of the flock, who are not able to attain by their own efforts to the knowledge of these good things; just as sheep do not dare to go forth without their shepherd to seek the green pastures. Of this fact the Bride prudently takes note, and that is why she desires to be told where the Bridegroom feeds [His flock], and takes shelter during the mid-day heat; being prepared (as may easily be understood from her words) to be nourished and to feed her flock with Him, and under His protection. She does not consider it safe for the flock to stray far from their Chief Pastor, because of the attacks of wolves upon them; and especially of those who come to us in sheep's clothing; it is for that reason that she desires to feed in the same pastures, and repose in the same shades, as He. And she gives her motive in the words, Why should I be as one that turneth aside by the flocks of Thy companions? (i. 7). These are they who wish to appear as friends of the Bridegroom, and are not; their care is to feed their own flocks, not His; they are those who go about insidiously, saying: Lo, here is Christ; or, lo, He is there (Mark xiii. 21), so that they may lead away many, may withdraw them from the flock of Christ, and add them to their own. So far as relates to the letter of the text. As for the spiritual sense hidden in it, I propose to defer the consideration of it to another discourse, which, by the intercession of your prayers, and in the fulness of His mercy, may He deign to grant unto me to deliver, Who is the Bridegroom of the Church, Jesus Christ our Lord, who is above all, God

OF THOSE THINGS WHICH A DEVOUT SOUL OUGHT TO SEEK WITHOUT CEASING. WHAT IS TO BE UNDERSTOOD BY THE WORD ' NOON] AND OF FOUR CLASSES OF TEMPTATIONS TO BE SEDULOUSLY AVOIDED.

*~T^ELL me, O Thou whom my soul loveth, where Thou feedest,

J[ where Thou makes t Thy flock to rest at noon (i. 7). And another voice speaks thus: Tell me why Thou judgest me thus (Job x. 2, Douay). Where he does not blame the sentence upon him, but examines the cause of it, and asks to be instructed by his afflictions, not destroyed by them. And still another prays in the same sense, saying: Show me Thy ways, O Lord; teach me thy paths (Ps. xxv. 4). What he means by ' ways ' and ' paths ' he shows elsewhere: He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness (Ps. xxiii. 3). Every soul, therefore, that is full of care to serve God does not cease to seek for these three things: righteousness, and judgment, and the place where dwelleth the glory of the Lord; or, as it were, the path in which to walk, the precaution with which to walk, and the dwelling whither to direct our course. Of this dwelling the Psalmist speaks thus: One thing have I desired unto the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the House of the Lord all the days of my life (Ps. xxvii. 4); and, again: Lord, I have lo7'ed the habitation of Thy House, and the place where Thine Honour dwelleth (xxvi. 8); while of the two others he says: Justice and judgment are the habitation of Thy Throne (lxxxix. 14). It is with reason that the devoted soul seeks these three things, as being the throne of God, and the basis (praiparationem) of His Throne. Beautiful it is to see how, by the peculiar prerogative of the Bride, all these things concur equally to the consummation of her virtues, so that she is beautiful by the form of righteousness, prudent by knowledge of judgments, and chaste by her desire for the presence and glory of her Bridegroom. Such it