THAT THE KISS OF GOD IS THE HOLY SPIRIT
that by this very action it might be understood that He proceeds from the Son equally as from the Father. It is sufficient for the Bride if she receive the gift of grace from her Bridegroom, though it be not that highest grace of all. Let no one suppose that this is a small favour, or of little value; for this signifies nothing else than to receive the inpouring of the Holy Spirit. For if the Father is rightly understood as bestowing the kiss, and the Son as receiving it, we shall not err in understanding by the kiss the Holy Spirit, inasmuch as He is the peace unalterable, the bond indissoluble, the indivisible love, the inviolable unity, between the Father and the Son.
3. It is, therefore, by the influence of the Holy Spirit, that the Bride has the boldness to ask trustingly, under this name or figure, that the inpouring of the Holy Spirit may be granted to her. She does indeed hold, as it were, a pledge, which deprives her request of any shadow of presumption. I mean the declaration of the Son, when He said: No man knoweth the Son but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father but the Son; and then added, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him (Matt. xi. 27). But the Bride has no doubt that if He wills to grant this knowledge to any, it will be to her. Therefore, she prays boldly that this may be given to her \ that is, that Holy Spirit, in whom both the Son is revealed, and the Father. For the One is not made known without the Other; according to that saying: He that hath seen Me, hath seen My Father also (John xiv. 9). Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father. But he that acknowledged the Son hath the Father also (1 John ii. 23), from which it appears plainly that neither is the Father known without the Son, nor the Son without the Father. And it follows from this that he who said: This is life eternal, to know Thee, the only True God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent (John xvii. 3), placed the highest blessedness in the knowledge, not of either Divine Person, but of Each. Finally, we read that those who follow the Lamb have His Name, and the Name of His Father, written in their foreheads;l that is to say, that their knowledge of Each Divine Person is a glory to them.
4. But someone perhaps says: The knowledge of the Holy Spirit, then, is not necessary, since, when it>is declared that life eternal consists in knowing both the Father arid the Son, no mention is made of the Holy Spirit. That is true; but how can anyone who knows perfectly the Father and the Son be ignorant of the Goodness of the One and of the Other? And this Goodness is the Holy Spirit. For a man does not wholly know another man, as long as he is ignorant, whether the will of that other is good or evil. And we may add to this, that when it is said: This is life eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christy tvhom TJwu hast sent; if mention be made of that mission as showing the goodness and benignity of the Father in deigning to send the Son, and that of the Son in willingly obeying, that proves that the speaker is not wholly silent respecting the Holy Ghost, since the goodness and grace of the Father and the Son are referred to, and Their Love and Goodness is the Holy Ghost.
5. When, therefore, the Bride is praying that this gift may be conferred upon her, her entreaty is for the inpouring of the grace of this threefold knowledge, as far as it can be experienced in this mortal body. But it is the Son of whom she entreats it, since it is the function of the Son to reveal it to whom He will. The Son reveals Himself then to whom He will, and He reveals also the Father. This revealing is doubtless made by the Holy Ghost; for such is the sense of the words spoken by the Apostle: For God hath revealed [them] unto us by His Spirit (1 Cor. ii. 10). But in giving the Spirit by whom He reveals this knowledge, He reveals also the Spirit Himself; in giving He reveals Him, and in revealing gives. Now, that revelation which is made by the Holy Ghost not only enlightens [the soul] to knowledge, but also enkindles it to love, as St. Paul says: The Love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us (Rom. v. 5). And therefore also perhaps it is not said of those who, when they knew God, glorified Him not as God, that their knowledge was an effect of the revealing of the Spirit, because when they had knowledge of God, they did not love Him (Rom. i. 21). It is true that you have: God hath showed it unto them (i. 1 9); but it is not added: ' By His Spirit/ lest those impious minds who were contented with the knowledge which puffeth up, and cared not for that which edifieth, should arrogate to themselves the having received the kiss which belongs to the Bride. Finally, the Apostle states by what means they had this knowledge: The invisible things of God are clearly seen, being understood by the things which are made (1. 20), whence it appears that they have not perfectly known Him for whom they had no love. For if they had known Him completely, they could not have overlooked that goodness which impelled Him to be born in the Flesh, and to die for our redemption. Listen, then, and learn what it was that had been revealed to them of God: His Eternal Power and Godhead (Ibid.). You see that, exalting themselves in the presumption of their own spirit, and not under the influence of the Spirit of God, they wished to peer into those things which were great and sublime in God, and have failed to discern that God [Incarnate] was meek and lowly of heart. Nor is this wonderful, for we read that Behemoth, who is their head, scorns to cast his eye upon what is humble and low; but beholdeth all high things (Job xli. 34). Whereas, on the contrary, David did not exercise himself in great matters, nor in things too high for him (Ps. cxxxi. 1), lest the searcher out of glory should be overwhelmed with glory (Prov. xxv. 27, Vulg.).
6. And do you also, brethren, that you may conduct yourselves with prudence while searching out Divine mysteries, bear in mind the warning of the wise man: Seek not out the things that are too hard for thee, neither search the things that are above thy strength (Ecclus. iii. 21). Walk among those exalted subjects in the Spirit, and not in thy own judgment. The teaching of the Holy Spirit does not sharpen curiosity, but kindles charity. Rightly thus does the Bride, when seeking Him whom her soul loveth, not trust herself to the judgment of the flesh, nor follow the futile reasonings of human curiosity, but, as here, prays for this Gift, that is, she invokes the Holy Spirit, so that through Him she may receive at once the love for knowledge, and the seasoning of grace to accompany it. Well is it said that the knowledge thus given is accompanied with love, since a kiss is the sign of love. But the knowledge which pufleth up, being without love, is not thus conveyed. Nor can they who have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge, arrogate this to themselves at all; but this gift conveys both the one and the other of these graces; both the light of knowledge and the unction of piety. For He is a Spirit of wisdom and knowledge; and as a bee bears honey and wax, so He has in Himself both that which enkindles the light of knowledge, and that which infuses the savour of grace. Let not him who has understanding of the truth, but without love, nor him who loves, without understanding the truth, think that he has received that gift, for in it there is no place either for error or for lukewarmness. That is the reason why the Bride, in order to receive this twofold grace, presents her two lips; I mean the reason full of intelligence, and the will full of love for heavenly wisdom; so that, being full of joy at having received an embrace so full and so perfect, she may have the happiness to hear: Grace is poured upon thy lips, therefore God hath blessed thee for ever (Ps. xlv. 3). Therefore the Father, in His.Kiss to the Son, communicates to Him the depths of His Divinity in their fulness, and breathes [upon Him] the sweetness of His Love. And Scripture intimates this, where it is said: Day unto day uttereth speech (Ps. xix. 2). In this Embrace, eternal, unique, and blessed, it is not given to any created being to have part; the Spirit alone, who is both of the One and of the other, is conscious of that mutual Recognition and Love, and is a Witness of it. For who hath known the Mind of the Lord? or who hath been His Counsellor? (Rom. xi. 34).
7. But someone will perhaps say to me: 'How, then, have you come to a knowledge of that which you say is hid from the ken of every creature?' Undoubtedly the Only Begotten Son, which is in the Bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him (John i. 18). Yes, it is He who hath declared Him, not to me, a miserable man, unworthy of such an honour, but to the friend of the Bridegroom, to John, whose words these are; and not only to him, but to John the Evangelist, as the disciple whom Jesus loved. For his soul was pleasing to God, truly worthy of the name and of the dowry of the
Bride, worthy of the embraces of the Bridegroom, worthy, finally, to recline upon the Breast of the Lord. In the Bosom of the only Begotten Son John drank in that which He had from the Bosom of the Father. Yet it was not He alone who received that great grace, but all those also to whom the same, who is the Angel of great counsel, said: / have called you friends, for all things that I have heard of My Father I have made known unto you (John xv. 15). This also did Paul drink in, who had received his Gospel neither from man, nor by man, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ (Gal. i. 11, 12). Assuredly all these holy men can say as truly as happily, 'The Only Begotten Son, who is in the Bosom of the Father, hath declared Him unto us.' And that revelation, what was it but the bestowal of this embrace sacred and eternal; as it is said: I and My Father are One. And again: The Father is in Me, and I in Him (John x. 30, 38). That is, indeed, as it were, a kiss, but one to which no creature draws near. A kiss it is of love and of peace, but the love surpasses all knowledge, and the peace all understanding. But that which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive, God revealed to Paul by His Spirit, that is, by the Kiss of His Mouth. Therefore the relation of the Father to the Son, and of the Son to the Father, is, so to speak, a kiss by the mouth. But that [relation] of which we read: We have received, not the spirit of this world, but the Spirit which is of God, that we may know those things which are freely given unto us by God (1 Cor. ii. 12), is of and from this.
8. Now, to distinguish more clearly between these two, he who receives the fulness itself has the one, but he who receives only of the fulness has but the other. Paul was indeed a great man, but how high soever he might lift his head (os), and even though it should reach unto the third heaven, he must of necessity remain far below the Countenance of the Most High (os Altissimi), and must resign himself to remain within the limits of his condition. And since he will not be able to attain to that Countenance of glory, he must humbly entreat that God will condescend to him, and send to him a gift from on high. But He who thought it not robbery to be equal with God (Phil. ii. 6), so that He could say without fear I and My Father are One, because He is united to [His Father] as to an equal, and is embraced by Him as by an equal, He does not, from a lower station, beg for a gift, but is joined in an embrace with equality of rank, and by a privilege which is the right of Him alone. To Christ, therefore, the kiss is fulness, to Paul it is participation.
9. Happy, nevertheless, is the sign by which comes not only the knowledge of God, but also the love of Him as our Father, who cannot be fully known unless He be at the same time perfectly loved. What soul among you has ever felt in the depths of his conscience the Spirit of the Son crying, Abba, Father? (Gal. iv. 6). That soul which feels itself animated by the same Spirit as the Son, that soul,
I say, may believe that it is the object of the affection of the Father. Trust in Him, O soul, whosoever thou art, that hast the happiness to be in that condition; trust in Him, doubting nothing. In the Spirit of the Son recognise that thou art a daughter of the Father, the sister, or the Bride, of the Son. Such a soul is, in fact, you will find, called by one or by the other name. The proof of this is at hand: it will not be difficult to produce it. For what is the voice of the Bridegroom to her? Is it not, Come into My garden, My sister, My spouse? (Cant. v. i). She is sister because she has the same Father; she is spouse because she is in the same Spirit. And if a marriage in the flesh makes of two persons one flesh, shall not a spiritual bond much more join two into one Spirit? And, in fact, the Apostle declares that he who is joined unto the Lord is one Spirit (i Cor. vi. 17). But hear also with what affection and what condescension the Father names her His daughter, and as His daughter-in-law invites her to the kind embrace of His Son: Hearken, O daughter, and consider, incline thine ear; forget also thine own people and thy father's house; so shall the King greatly desire thy beauty (Ps. xlv. 10, 11). It is from Him that she makes this request. But, O holy soul, maintain the deepest reverence, for He is the Lord thy God; not to be embraced, perhaps; but rather to be adored, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, for ever and ever. Amen.
OF THE BREASTS OF THE BRIDEGROOM — THAT IS, CHRIST: WHEREOF THE ONE IS PATIENCE IN WAITING FOR THE CONVERSION OF SINNERS; THE OTHER, BENIGNITY OR WILLINGNESS TO RECEIVE THEM.
T" ET us come now to the exposition of the book, and give the reason for the words of the Bridegroom, as well as the result
-* — ' which follows from them. For without a commencement, they seem to hang in mid-air, and then abruptness, as it were, renders their sense obscure. Therefore it will be well, in the first place, to ascertain upon what previous facts or truths they rest. Suppose, then, that those whom we have called the companions of the Bridegroom now approach the Bride, as yesterday and the day before, to visit and to salute her. They find her plunged in sadness, uttering sighs and groans; their surprise is excited, and they question her thus: What has occurred? Why do we find you more sad than usual? What is the cause of these unexpected sighs? When, alienated and turned away from the path of right, you were following your earthly companions, you saw yourself obliged, by the sad condition to which their cruelties had brought you, to return at length to your true Lord,