Sermons on the Song of Songs

becomes well the Spouse of the Lord to be: beautiful, prudent, and chaste. Therefore the petition, which I have placed last, has reference to place: she seeks that He, whom her soul loves, will tell her where He feedeth, where He makes His flock to rest at noon.

2. And first remark with what beauty she distinguishes the love of the Spirit from that of the flesh, when, wishing to express her beloved more by her very affection than by His Name, she does not say simply, 'Him whom I love/ but, O Thou whom my soul loveth, indicating thereby that her affection is of the soul. Next, consider with attention what it is she finds so desirable in the place where He pastures His flock. Nor let it escape you that she speaks of the midday hour, and inquires especially respecting the place in which He who feeds His flock also reposes, which is a sign of great security. For I suppose that this word * reposes ' was added because in that land it is not necessary at all to be on foot and wakeful in order to keep the flock in safety; since even when the shepherd is inactive and reclining under the trees, his flock go to and fro upon the meadows as they please. Happy the region where the sheep go in and out at pleasure, and none make them afraid. Who will grant unto me to behold you, and myself with you, feeding upon the mountains with the ninety and nine, which, as we read in the Gospel (Matt, xviii. 12), the Shepherd of all had left there, while He deigned to go to seek that one which had strayed and was lost? He, without doubt, reposes securely when He is beside His sheep, who did not hesitate to depart and go far from them, knowing that He left them in safety. Rightly does the Bride seek and sigh for that spot which is one both of pasturage and of peace, of repose and of security, of joy, of admiration— yea, of wonderment But, alas! how unhappy am I to be so far distant from it, to salute it only from afar! The mention only of it makes me break into tears, excites my heart to affection, and my tongue to use the words of those who said: By the rivers of Babylon there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion (Ps. cxxxvii. 1). Our desire is to cry out with the Bride and with the Psalmist: Praise Thy God, O Siony for He hath strengthened the bars of thy gates; He hath blessed thy children within thee. He maketh peace in thy borders, and filleth thee with the finest of the wheat (Ps. cxlvii. 13, 14). Who would not wish to be fed from thence for peace, and for fatness, and for satiety? No fear is there, nor distaste, nor deficiency. Paradise is a safe dwelliiu-place, the Word a sweet nourishment, eternity abundance without limit.

3. I have the Word also here below, but in the Flesh; the Truth also is set before me for nourishment, but in the Sacrament. An Angel is rendered fat with the finest of the wheat, and filled with the pure grain; but it behoves me to be content during this life with the Sacrament, as with a husk; with the flesh, as with bran; with the letter, as with chaff; with faith, as with a veil [upon the truth]. And such things as these bring death in the tasting (Rom. viii. 6-13), unless they be seasoned in some degree with the firstfruits of the Spirit.

Assuredly, I can find only death in the pottage, unless it be rendered sweet with the meal of the Prophet (2 Kings iv. 41). Indeed, without the Spirit even the Sacrament is received only to condemnation; the flesh profiteth nothing (John vi. 63); the letter kflleth (2 Cor. iii. 6); and faith itself is dead. But it is the Spirit that quickeneth these [means of grace], that I may live in them. But with whatever abundance of the Spirit those things may be enriched it is not possible to find the same sweetness in the husk of the Sacrament, and in the fatness of the wheat; in faith as in vision; in remembrance as in presence; in time as in eternity; in the reflection in a mirror as in the countenance itself that is reflected; in the form of a servant as in the Image of God. Evidently, in all these things, faith is rich for me, but intelligence is poor. Is there not a great disparity between the degree of appreciation and enjoyment experienced by the understanding, and that by the faith, since the one is for a merit, the other for a reward? You see, then, that there is as much difference between the nature of the nourishment as there is between the places referred to; and as the heavens are exalted high above the earth, so do those who dwell in them abound far more, and in gifts which are far better, than those below.

4. Let us hasten, then, my children, let us hasten to reach a safer dwelling-place, a sweeter pasturage, a richer and more fruitful field. Let us hasten to attain a land where we may dwell without fear, have abundance that cannot be exhausted, and can be enjoyed without distaste. Thou, O Lord of Sabaoth, who judgest all things in an awful calm, Thou dost also support all things with justice and in security. Thou art at once the Lord of armies and the Shepherd of the sheep. Therefore Thou dost both pasture Thy sheep and, kt the same time, remain in a Sabbath rest; but not here. Therefore it was that Thou didst remain quiescent when Thou sawest from heaven one of Thy sheep (I speak of Stephen) beset with wolves upon the earth (Acts vii. 55). And, therefore, I entreat, tell me where Thou feedest, where Thou makest Thy flock to rest at noon; for that noonday is the whole day, a day which knows no evening. And, therefore, that day in Thy courts is better than a thousand (Ps. lxxxiv. 10), because it knows no set of sun. It has had perhaps a morning, namely, when the dayspring from on high hath visited us, through the tender mercy of our God, to give light to them that sit in darkness (Luke i. 78, 79). Then in truth we have received Thy mercy \ O God, in the midst of Thy Temple (Ps. xlvii. 10, Douay); when [the Lord] rose from the midst of the shadow of death, and the morning light broke upon us, and in the morning we beheld the glory of the Lord. How many kings and prophets have desired to see it, and have not seen it? Wherefore? Because it was still the night, and that the morning, so long awaited, and to which mercy was promised, had not yet come. Wherefore, also, one thus prayed: Cause me to hear Thy tovingkindness in the morning, for in Thee is my trust (Ps. cxliii. 8).

5. For that day was heralded by an aurora lasting from the moment in which the [rising of the] Sun of Righteousness was announced to the earth by the Archangel Gabriel, and that a Virgin had conceived by the operation of the Holy Ghost [Him who was] God, and that a Virgin had brought forth; and onwards, until He was beheld upon the earth, and lived among men. For up to that time only a feeble light, as it were, the light of an aurora, was visible, so that almost all the earth was ignorant that the Day was among men. And, in truth, if they had known they would not have crucified the Lord of glory (i Cor. ii. 8). To His few disciples He said: Yet a little while ye have the Light with you1 (John xii. 35), inasmuch as it was the aurora, the beginning, or rather the indication of the day, while the Sun still concealed His beams, and scattered them but little upon the earth. St. Paul also said that the night was far spent, the day was at hand (Rom. xiii. 12), signifying that though the light was still dim, the day was approaching rather than was already come. But when did he say this? Tt was when the Sun of Righteousness, having returned from the depths, had already mounted into the height of heaven. How much more would he have spoken thus when the likeness of a body of sin — as it were a thick cloud — veiled that dawning; a body, I say, like ours in all its capabilities of suffering, so that neither the bitterness of death nor the shame of the Cross were wanting to it! How much more dim and feeble was the light at that season than when the presence of the Sun was plain and evident!

6. All the Life of Christ upon the earth was, then, as it were, an aurora, or dawning, and even that somewhat indistinct, until, after His Death and Resurrection, He caused the dawning to disappear in the clearer light of His Presence, as it were, the sun full risen; then the rooming broke, and the night was swallowed up in victory. Thus we read in the Gospel: Very early in the morning, the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun (Mark xvi. 2). Was it not the morning when the Sun was risen? But that morning drew from the Resurrection of Christ a new beauty, a purer and more steadfast light than was its wont, since even though we have known Him after the Flesh, yet now henceforth know we Him no more (2 Cor. v. 16). And the Psalmist writes: The Lord hath girded Himself He is clothed with beauty and strength (Ps. xcii. 1, Douay); because He hath thrown off from Him as a cloud the infirmities of the flesh, and hath put on Him the robe of His glory. Just so is it with the sun: when he is risen above the horizon, and pours forth his rays upon the earth, he begins to increase by degrees in brightness to the sight and in warmth to the feeling. But though he increase ever so much in strength and in heat, though he multiply his rays in number and power, throughout the whole course of this mortal life of ours (for He shall be with us even unto the end of the world — Matt, xxviii. 20), yet He shall not attain unto His midday light, nor be beheld here below in that fulness of glory in which He shall hereafter reveal Him- self, but to those alone to whom He shall deign to accord that vision. O true noontide, fulness of warmth and of light, abiding-place of the sun, which exterminates all shadows, dries up marshes, and drives forth pestilential odours! O perpetual solstice, and day that declines not! O mid-day light, enjoying at once the freshness of spring, the beauty of summer, the fruitfulness and abundance of autumn, and, not to omit anything, the deep rest and unbroken quiet of winter! Or, at least, if you prefer it so, it is the winter only that disappears and is wanting. ' Show to me ' (says the Bride) * this spot of brightness, peace, and abundance so great, that, like as Jacob, still abiding in his mortal body, saw the Lord face to face, and his life was preserved (Gen. xxxii. 30); or as Moses beheld Him, not in types and figures, nor through dreams, as did other Prophets, but in a manner transcendent and known to no others but to God and himself (Num. xii. 6-8); or as Isaiah, who, after the eyes of his heart had been opened, saw the Lord upon His Throne high and lifted up (Is. vi. 1); or even in the manner of St. Paul, who was caught up into Paradise, and heard unspeakable words (2 Cor. xii. 4), and saw with his eyes Jesus Christ his Lord: so may I, too, be found worthy to contemplate Thee in Thy light and Thy beauty by means of a transport and rapture of soul; and to behold Thee feeding Thy flock with fuller abundance and more complete security than now.1

7. For here, too, Thou dost feed Thy flock, but not to the full; nor is it permitted to Thee to repose, but it is needful to stand and watch over them because of terrors of the night. Alas! [here] the light is not clear, nor the nourishment full, nor the dwelling safe; therefore tell me where Thou feedest, where Thou makest Thy flock to rest at noon. Blessed dost Thou call me when I hunger and thirst after righteousness (Matt. v. 6). What is this in comparison with the happiness of those who are satisfied with the goodness of Thy House (Ps. lxv. 4), who eat and rejoice in the sight of God, yea, who exceedingly rejoice? (Ps. Ixviii. 3) But, and if I suffer anything for righteousness' sake, Thou sayest again that I am none the less blessed (1 Pet. iii. 14). And it is certain that to have nourishment where you apprehend suffering is to experience enjoyment, but not security. To have nourishment and suffering together, what is that but a grievous joy? All things that I possess here fall short of being perfect; many are beyond my prayer, nor is any safe. When wilt Thou fill me with joy with Thy Countenance? (Ps. xv 11, Douay) Thy Face, Lord, will I seek (Ps. xxvii. 8). Thy Countenance is a noonday to me. Tell me where Thou feedest, ivhere Thou makest Thy flock to rest at noon. I know sufficiently where thou feedest without resting; tell me where Thou doest both the one and the other. I am not ignorant where at other times Thou doest this, but I would know where Thou doest this at noon. For during the time of my mortal life, and in the place of my pilgrimage, I have been accustomed to he spiritually fed, and to feed others, with nourishment from Thee, in the Law, in the Prophets, in the Psalms. Thou dost feed us also

in the pastures of the Gospels, and with the Apostles I have rested. Often, also, I have sought, and have been able to find, spiritual nourishment for me and mine in the actions, the words, and the writings of the Saints. Still more frequently (because it was very close at hand to me) I have eaten the bread of sorrow, and drunk of the wine of regret; my tears have been my meat day a?id night, while they daily say unto me, Where is now thy God f (Ps. xlii. 3.) I have, indeed, been nourished from Thy Table: for Thou hast prepared a Table before me against them that trouble me (Ps. xxiii. 5), and from it, I repeat, I receive somewhat by the gift of Thy mercy, which imparts comfort and consolation, as often as my soul is sorrowful and disquieted within me. Those pastures I know, and following Thee, my Shepherd, have often sought them; but tell me, I entreat, those which I know not.

8. There are, however, other shepherds who call themselves companions of Thine, but are not so; and these have their flocks, and their fields of pasture filled with deadly things; to these they lead their followers, but not with Thee, nor by Thy bidding; these I have not entered, nor drawn near to them. These are they who say: Lo! here is Christ, or lo I He is there (Mark xiii. 21), promising pastures fertile with wisdom and knowledge; and the promise is believed, so that many hearers flock together to them; and these they make twofold more the children of hell than themselves (Matt, xxiii. 15). Why is this, except that there is not there the clear and noonday light, so that the pure truth should become known to them; and thus they easily accept falsehood on account of a resemblance to the truth, from which, in the dim light, it is not easily distinguished, and especially also because stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant (Prov. ix. 17). And for this reason I entreat that Thou wouldest tell me where Thou feedest, where Thou makest Thy flock to rest at noon, that is to say, in the clear light, that I may not be seduced, and begin to wander after the crowds of those who follow these [so-called] "companions of Thine"1 who are themselves but unsteady wanderers, having no certitude or steady grasp of true doctrine, who are ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth (2 Tim. iii. 7). This the Bride [that is, the Church] declares on account of the varying and vain dogmas of philosophers and heretics.

9. It seems to me that we ought to desire this noonday of Christ, not only on this account, but also on account of the wiles of invisible powers, of seducing spirits who hold themselves in ambush, and make ready their arrows within the quiver, that they may secretly shoot at those who are of a right heart, so that in clear light we may be able to discover the stratagems of the devil, and easily to discern, with the help of our good angel, that angel of Satan, who is able to transform himself into an angel of light (2 Cor. xi. 14). For we are not able otherwise to guard ourselves sufficiently from the attack of the demon of noonday (Ps. xcl 6)'unless we walk also in noonday light. And I think that demon is so called because there are of the number of the evil some who, abiding although they do in a night which is perpetual on account of their will being gloomy and hardened in wickedness, yet know how to simulate the day, and even the mid-day, in order to deceive; in the same way that their chief is not content to be equal with God, but opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped (2 Thess. ii. 4). That is why, unless the heart of one whom a demon of this nature is endeavouring to tempt be enlightened by the true light of noonday, which shines from heaven, which detects and convicts that which is false, he will not be able adequately to protect himself, but the demon will doubtless tempt and subvert him by an appearance of good, persuading the soul which is incautious and unprepared, to accept evil for good. And then the mid day — that is, the clearness — appears the greater, tempting since it offers a greater show of good.

10. How often, for example, has it suggested to anticipate the watches [of the night] in order to turn to derision some sleeper at the Offices of the brethren? How often to prolong fasts in order to render an individual powerless, and therefore useless, in Divine service? How often, envying those who were making good progress in communities, has it suggested to them, under the pretence of attaining greater perfection, to seek the solitude [of an hermitage]? And those unhappy ones have learned at length the truth of that maxim which they had read to no purpose: Woe to him that is alone when he falleth,for he hath not another to lijt him up (Eccles. iv. 10). How often has it urged a man to greater manual labour than he has strength to perform, and thus exhausting his powers has rendered him incapable of discharging his regular duties? How often urged one to immoderate bodily exercise — which, according to the Apostle, profiteth little (1 Tim. iv. 8) — and so withdrawn him from practices of piety? Lastly, have not some of you experienced — I say it to their shame — how at first they could not be restrained, with such ardour they were filled, and then after a time fell back into such a degree of remissness that, in the phrase of the Apostle, having begun in the Spirit, they were made perfect by the flesh (Gal. iii. 3), and have made a shameful alliance with the body after having entered upon an unrelenting conflict with it? You see such persons — shame it is to say — demanding importunately things which are superfluous after having obstinately refused those which were necessary. Although 1 know not whether those who remain stiffly determined in their own will, making abstinences which are unwise and indiscreet, and gravely troubling by their marked singularity those to whom they ought to conform their conduct, as they dwell with them in one house; I know not, I say, whether they are abiding by the rule of piety: they seem to me to have by thus acting, departed far from it. Let those who are wise in their own eyes, and have determined to abide by no advice nor command but their own, let them see to it how they shall give account, not to me, but to Him who says: Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. And He had declared before that obedience is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rants (i Sam. xv. 23, 22); that is to say, than an abstinence which is disobedient and contumacious. That is why the Lord says by the Psalmist: Will I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats? (Ps. 1. 13), in order to show that the fastings of those who are proud or impure are far from being acceptable in His sight.

11. But here I fear, lest in condemning those who push their fasts beyond measure, I may seem to give licence to the gluttonous, and that they may hear to their peril what is spoken for a remedy to the others. Wherefore let both the one class and the other listen. There are four kinds of temptations, and they are thus described by the Psalmist: His Truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shall not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday (Ps. xci. 4-6). And do ye all attend also, for I hope that you may all find profit in these words. All among us who have been converted to the Lord feel in ourselves the truth of what the Holy Scripture says: My son, if thou come to serve the Lord, prepare thy soul for temptation, set thy heart aright, and constantly endure (Ecclus. ii. 1). Therefore, according to the order of common experience, it is fear which first disturbs and troubles us at the beginning of our conversion; and that fear is caused by the frightful image which we form to ourselves of the extremely strict life we are about to embrace, and of the austerity of an unwonted discipline. And this is called 'the terror by night/ either because * night' in Scripture means usually ' adversities,' or because the recompense, on account of which we are preparing to endure adversities, is not yet revealed, but hidden from us as in a shroud of gloom. For if that day should shine in whose light we should discern equally both the trials and the recompenses, the desire of the recompense which would be clearly visible to us would render the fear of any trials whatever as nothing in comparison with the desire to obtain it. For the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us (Rom. viii. 18). But now, since these things are concealed from our eyes and all is night around us, we suffer from the terrors of the night, and are a prey to fears of those evils which are present to us in place of the good things to come which are not visible. Those, then, who are newcomers ought to watch and pray against this first temptation, lest, being suddenly overcome by weakness of the spirit and by the difficulty of the moment, they fall back (which may God forbid!) from the good work they had begun.

12. But after having overcome that temptation, let us arm ourselves moreover against the praises of men who find occasion for praise in the laudable life we lead; for otherwise we shall be exposed to be wounded by the arrow which flieth by day — that is, by vainglory. For fame is said to fly, and during the day, because it is born of the works of the light. If this is puffed aside as being empty air, there still remains to be feared something more solid — that is, the richest honours of this world; for one who cares not for praises may desire place and dignity. And see if it was not this order of temptation that was observed towards Our Lord, to whom, after the suggestion was made that He should throw Himself from the pinnacle of the Temple from a motive of vanity alone, all the kingdoms of the world were shown and offered (Matt. iv. 6, 8). Do you, then, also reject these after the example of the Saviour? otherwise you will inevitably be surprised by the pestilence which walketh in darkness, which is hypocrisy. For that descends from ambition, and has its dwelling in darkness; there it hides what it really is, and pretends to be what it is not. At all times it has some secret object, and, retaining an appearance of piety to conceal itself, it is prepared to put even virtue up to sale1 in order to obtain honours.

13. The last temptation is the destruction that ivasteth at noonday, which usually besets those who are perfect — namely, those brave and lofty souls who have overcome other temptations, whether pleasures, flatteries, or honours. For what remains to the tempter, or what means has he left to attack souls like these? He approaches, then, in disguise, since he dares not do so openly, and attempts to overthrow, by a false pretence of good, the man whom he has found by experience to hold in horror that which is openly evil. For those who are able to say with the Apostle: We are not ignorant of his devices (2 Cor. ii. 11), the more advanced they are in virtue, the more careful are they to guard against this snare. Thus it was that Mary was troubled at the angelic salutation (Luke i. 29), suspecting (if 1 do not mistake) some snare of the enemy; and Joshua does not receive the angel as a friend before he knew that he was really a friend. In fact, he inquires whether the angel were for them or for their adversaries (Josh. v. 13-15), as one who had had experience of the cunning devices of the demon of the noonday. The Apostles also, when they were once toiling in rowing, the wind being contrary, and the boat labouring in the sea, seeing the Lord walking on the sea, thought He was a phantom, and cried out for fear. Does not that show clearly that they suspected a delusion of the demon of the noon? For you remember that the Scripture says that in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea (Matt. xiv. 24-27). Let, then, this fourth temptation, which is the last to be tried, be feared by us: and the higher anyone seems to have attained, the more careful and watchful let him learn to be against the attacks of the demon of noonday. But the true Noonday, the Lord Jesus, manifested Himself to the disciples in that He said.• // is I: be not afraid; and their unfounded suspicion was at once dispelled. May God grant that as often as the cloaked falsehood endeavours to creep upon us, the true 1 VindUans, but read vettdicans. — Ed.

Noonday, rising from on high, may send forth His light and His truth to put it to flight — to separate the light from the darkness, so that we may not fall under the censure of the Prophet as putting darkness for light, and light for darkness (Is. v. 20).

14. If the length of this discourse does not weary you, I will now try to assign these four temptations, in their order, to the Body of Christ, which is the Church. And I will endeavour to do this as briefly as possible. Consider the Primitive Church. Was it not at first pervaded in an extraordinary degree with the terror that walketh by night! For it was then, as it were, a night, when everyone who slew the saints thought that he was thus doing God service. But after that temptation was overcome, and that tempest stilled, she became glonous and illustrious, and, according to the promise made to her, was speedily placed in a position of worldly distinction. Then the enemy, vexed to have been frustrated, turned cunningly from the 4 nightly terror' to the * arrow that flieth by day,' and with it wounded certain members of the Church. Vain and ambitious men rose up, greedy of reputation, and desired to make for themselves a name; and, going forth from the Church, their mother, they long afflicted her with various and perverse teachings. But this evil plague also was vanquished by the wisdom of the saints, as the former had been by the patience of the martyrs.

15. At the present time, by the mercy of God, the Church is free from each of these evils; but evidently it is still contaminated by the pestilence that walketh in darkness. Woe to this generation [which is corrupted] by the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy! If, indeed, that ought to be called hypocrisy which is so prevailing that it cannot be hidden, and so devoid of shame that it does not try to hide. At the present day a contagious corruption is creeping through the whole body of the Church, the more desperate of cure as it is universal, and the more dangerous because so deeply seated. If an heretic arose to wage against her an open war, she would exclude him from her bounds, and he would dry up and wither away; or if one attacked her with violence, she would peradventure hide herself from him. But at the present time whom shall she exclude, or from whom shall she hide herself? All are her friends, and all her enemies; all are her intimates, and all her adversaries; all are of her own household, and none at peace with her; all are very nearly related to her, and yet all are seeking their own interests. They are Ministers of Christ, and they are serving Antichrist. They are advanced to honour upon the goods of the Lord, and to the Lord they render no honour at all. From this proceeds that meretricious splendour, that habit fit for a comedian, that magnificence almost royal which you see every day. Because of this you see gold upon the bits of their horses, upon their saddles, and even upon their spurs; yes, their spurs shine more brightly than their altars. Because of this you see fine tables loaded with splendid services of plate, chased goblets, and, also, with viands correspondingly costly; then follow merrymakings and drunkenness, the guitar, the lyre, and the flute. Thence come groaning winepresses and storehouses full and overflowing with all manner of good things. Thence come vases of rich perfumes, and coffers filled with immense treasures. It is for the attainment of such objects that they desire to be, and are, Provosts of churches, Deans, Archdeacons, Bishops, Archbishops. For these dignities are not given for merit, but are disposed of in that infamous traffic which walketh in darkness.

1 6. It was once predicted [of the Church], and now the time of its fulfilment draws near: Behold, in peace is my bitterness most bitter (Is. xxxviii. 17, Douay). It was bitter at first in the death of the martyrs; more bitter afterwards in the conflict with heretics; but most bitter of all now in the [evil] lives of her members. She cannot drive them away, and she cannot flee from them, so strongly established are they, and so multiplied are they above measure. The plague of the Church is inward; it is incurable. It is that which makes its bitterness most bitter, even in the midst of peace. But in what a peace! Peace it is, and yet it is not peace. There is peace from heathens, and from heretics; but not from her own sons. At this time is heard the voice of her complaining: / have nourished and brought forth children, and they have rebelled against me (Is. i. 2). They have rebelled; they have dishonoured me by their evil lives, by their shameful gains, by their shameful trafficking, by, in short, their many works which walk in darkness. There remains only one thing — that the demon of noonday should appear, to seduce those who remain still in Christ, and in the simplicity which is in Him. He has, without question, swallowed up the rivers of the learned, and the torrents of those who are powerful, and (as says the Scripture) he 4 trusteth that he can draw up Jordan into his mouth (Job xl. 23) — that is to say, those simple and humble ones who are in the Church. For this is he who is Antichrist, who counterfeits not only the day, but also the noonday; who exalts himself above all that is called God or worshipped — whom the Lord Jesus shall consume with the Spirit of His Mouth, and destroy with the brightness of His Coming (2 Thess. ii. 4, 8); for He is the true and eternal Noonday: the Bridegroom, and Defender of the Church, Who is above all, God blessed for ever.