Sermons on the Song of Songs

OF THE GLORY OF THE BRIDEGROOM, IN WHICH HE SITS AT THE RIGHT HAND OF HIS FATHER, AND IS COEQUAL WITH HIM. HOW CAREFUL, WATCHFUL, AND DISCREET GOOD PASTORS OUGHT TO BE IN FEEDING THE SOULS GIVEN INTO THEIR CHARGE.

' In the streets and in the broad ways I will seek Him whom my soul fove/A.J— Cant. iii. 2.

HE thinks still as a child. I believe that she has supposed that immediately He came forth from the tomb, He presented

' Himself in public to teach the people as He was wont, and heal the sick, and thus to show forth His glory in Israel, to see if they would receive Him rising from the dead, who promised that they would receive Him if He would come down from the Cross. But He had finished the work which the Father had given Him to do: which she ought to have understood, indeed, from the words which He had spoken when hanging on the Cross, and about to give up His spirit (John xix. 30): // is finished. It was not for Him to show Himself anew to the masses of the people, who would not perhaps even thus have believed in Him. And He hastened to His Father, who would say to Him: Sit Thou at My Right Hand, until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool (Ps. ex. 1). For when He should have been lifted up from the earth, He would draw all things unto Him more powerfully as well as more Divinely. But she, in thinking that He was to be sought in the streets and open spaces, was influenced by an eager desire to enjoy His presence, and did not know that mystery; therefore, when having again failed, she repeats: I sought Him, but I found Him not (iii. 2), that the word might be fulfilled which He spake: Ye shall not see Me... because I go to the Father (John xvi. 16).

2. But perhaps the sense of her words is this: ' How shall they believe in Him whom they will not behold?' As if faith cometh from sight, and not rather by hearing! What marvel is it that you should believe that which you have seen? and what praise does it deserve not to disbelieve one's own eyes? But if we hope for that which we see not, we wait for it with patience; and patience is a merit. Blessed are they who have not seen, and yet have believed (John xx. 29). So, then, that He may not deprive her of the merit of faith, He withdraws Himself from sight, affording place for this virtue. Besides this, it is time now that He should betake Himself to His own place. You ask, What is His own place? It is the Right Hand of the Father. For as He is in the Form of God, He will think it not robbery to be equal with God (Phil. ii. 6). The place, then, of the Only Begotten is one in which He is out of the reach of every kind of outrage. There, indeed, let Him sit, not below the Father, but beside Him, that all may honour the Son even as they honour the Father. In this shall

appear His equality of dignity, if He is considered neither inferior nor posterior, to the Father. But the Bride has, in the meantime, regard to none of these things; she is, as it were, inebriated by her affection; She runs hither and thither, and seeks with her eyes for Him who is not now discernible by the eyes, but by faith. She does not think that Christ ought otherwise to enter into His glory than as having previously manifested the glory of His Resurrection openly to all the world, that impiety may be thereby confuted, the faithful made to rejoice, the disciples to glory, the peoples to be converted; so that after His Presence and His Resurrection shall have shown clearly the truth of His predictions, He shall at length be glorified by all. But you deceive yourself, O Bride. All these things must needs be fulfilled, indeed; but in their due time.

3. But now, in the meantime, see if it be not more in agreement with the supreme Righteousness, and more worthy of it, not to give that which is holy to dogs, nor to cast pearls before swine: if, according to the Scripture, the wicked should rather be taken away, and not behold the glory of God (Is. xxvi. 10); if faith should be not deprived of its merit, since that is assuredly more displayed and approved in believing that which is not seen; if thus that which is hidden from the unworthy is reserved for those who are worthy of it \ if those who are filthy are filthy still, and those who are righteous become still more so (Rev. xxii. n) if they do not sleep through weariness. Let the heavens and the heavens of heavens pass away and be confounded in their expectation rather than that the Almighty Father should be longer hindered from attaining the desire of His Heart, or the Only Begotten Son delayed longer (which would be a consummation in the highest degree unworthy) from entering into His glory. What is all the glory of mortals, thinkest thou, however great it may be, to be able to detain Him, for ever so small a time, from that glory which has been prepared by His Father from all eternity? Add to this that it is not fitting that the petition of the Son Himself should wait longer for its fulfilment. Do you ask, What was that petition? It was that in which He said: Father, glorify Thy Son (John xvii. 1). And yet I feel that He asked this, not as a suppliant, but as prescient of that which was to be. That is freely asked which it is in the power of Him who asks to receive. Therefore the request of the Son was the effect of providence, not of necessity, since He, with the Father, gives that which He from the Father receives.

4. It is proper here to remark that not only does the Father glorify the Son, but also the Son glorifies the Father: so that no one should say that the Son is less than the Father as receiving glory from the Father, inasmuch as He also glorifies the Father. For He Himself says: Father, glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son also may glorify Thee. But perhaps you still think that the Son should be considered inferior to the Father, because He seems, as if less glorious, to receive the glory of the Father, which He renders to the Father again. But hear that it is not so, for He says: O Father, glorify Thou Me with Thine own Self with the glory which I had with Thee before the uwrld was (John xvii. 5). If, then, the glory of the Son is not later than that of the Father, since it exists from eternity, it is plain that the Father and the Son are equally glorified. This being so, where is the Primacy of the Father? There is evidently Equality where there is Coeternity. And the Equality is to such a degree that the glory of Both is but one glory, as They Themselves are One. On that account, as it seems to me, it was that He says again: Father, glorify Thy Name; and in so doing requests, in fact, nothing else than to be glorified Himself, since it is, beyond doubt, in Him, and through Him, that the Name of the Father would be glorified; and He received a reply from the Father: I have both glorified it, and I will glorify it again (John xii. 28). And this reply of the Father is in itself no small glorifying of the Son. But He was glorified more highly and more amply still at the stream of Jordan, both by the testimony of John the Baptist, the pointing Him out by the Dove, and by the Voice of the Father, who said: This is My Beloved Son (Matt. iii. 14, 16, 17). And, most of all, He was glorified and exalted on Mount Tabor before the three disciples, both by that same Voice which was heard from Heaven, and also by the wonderful and unexampled transfiguration of His Body, and the witness that was borne to Him by the two Prophets who appeared in the same place talking with Him (Matt. xvii. 2-5).

5. It remains, then, that, according to the promise of the Father, He should be glorified yet once again, and that with the fulness of glory to which nothing more can be added. But where shall that glory be bestowed? It will not be, as the Bride supposed, in the streets and open places, unless, perhaps, in those of whom it is said: The streets [of Jerusalem] shall be paved with white and clean stones: and Alleluia shall be sung in its streets (Tobit xiii. 22, Douay). For it is in those that the Son has received from the Father a glory so great that its equal cannot be found, even among the dwellers in heaven. For to which of the Angels said He at any time, Sit on My Right Hand? (Heb. i. 13). Not only among the Angels, but also in the loftiest orders of the Blessed, none is found fit to receive this glory which superexcels all things. To not one of them has that announcement of singular and exceptional glory been made, to not one of them has it been given to see it realized in himself. The Thrones, the Dominations, the Principalities, the Powers, desire, without doubt, to contemplate it in Him; but to compare themselves with Him they do not presume. It is, then, to my Lord only that it has been spoken, and upon Him only that it has been conferred by the Lord, that He should sit upon the Right Hand of His Glory as being coequal with Him in glory, Consubstantial in Essence, Like unto Him by Generation, not unequal in Majesty or in Eternity. It is there, it is there that he who seeks Him shall find, and shall behold His Glory: not glory as of one among others, but assuredly the glory as of the Only Begotten of the Father (John i. 14).

6. What doest thou, then, O Bride? Dost thou think that thou art able to follow Him thither? Hast thou the ability or the boldness to introduce thyself into a secret so sacred, into a sanctuary so secret, as to contemplate the Son in the Father and the Father in the Son? Assuredly not. Where He is thou canst not follow Him now, but thou shalt follow Him hereafter. Yet do not cease to strive; seek Him, follow Him; let not that supreme glory, that unapproachable elevation, deter thee from seeking, nor make thee despair of finding Him. If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that belie veth (Mack ix. 22). The word is nigh thee, it is said, in thy mouth, and in thy heart (Rom. x. 8). Believe, and thou hast found [Him]. Those who are faithful know that Christ dwells in their hearts by faith (Eph. iii. 17), and what is nearer than this? Seek, then, with confidence, seek with zeal. The Lord is good to the soul that seeketh Him (Lam. iii. 25). Seek Him by your prayers, seek Him by your actions, find Him by your faith. What is there that faith does not find? It attains that which was not reached, it discovers what is hidden, it comprehends what is unlimited, it apprehends the farthest depths; it even contains, after a certain manner, in its comprehensive bosom, eternity itself. I say with confidence that the blessed and eternal Trinity, which I do not understand, I believe in, and thus hold by faith that which I do not grasp with the understanding.

7. But someone says: 'How shall she believe, without someone to instruct, since faith cometh by hearing, and hearing through the word of exhortation (Rom. x. 14, 17)?' For this God will provide. And see how they are already at hand who present themselves to instruct that new Bride, that soul who is to be united to a heavenly Bridegroom, in the truths that she needs to know; to deliver to her the faith, to teach her the form of piety and of true religion. For listen to what she goes on to say: TJie watchmen that go about the city found me. Who are these watchmen? They are those whom the Saviour pronounces blessed if He, when He shall come, shall find them watching (Luke xii. 37). How good are the sentinels who watch while we sleep, as if to give an account of our souls! How good the guardians who are wakeful in spirit, and pass the night in prayer; who seek out wisely the devices of the enemies, forestall the designs of the evil-disposed, lay bare their snares, escape their entanglements, shatter their nets, frustrate their plots! These are lovers of the brethren and of the people of Christ, who pray much for the people and for all the Holy City. These are they who, being careful and anxious for the sheep entrusted to them by the Lord, bear them on their heart at their waking, when the day breaks, to the Lord who made them, and offer intercession for them in the presence of the Most High. And though they thus watch and thus intercede, they do it, as knowing their own insufficiency to keep the city safe, and being conscious that unless the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain (Ps. cxxvii. 1).

8. In fact, when the Lord thus instructs us, Watch ye and pray% lest ye enter into temptation (Markxiv. 38), it is plain that without this twofold exercise [of vigilance and prayer] by the faithful, and of sympathetic care on the part of the watchers, the city cannot be kept in safety, nor the Bride, nor the sheep. Do you inquire what is the difference between these? They are but one and the same; a city because it is an assembly of the faithful, a Bride because beloved, and a flock of sheep because of the kindness and care shown to it. Why is this Bride said to be a city? I saw (it is said) the Holy City, netv Jerusalem, coming down from God out of Heaven, prepared as a Bride adorned for fur husband (Rev. xxi. 2). It will plainly appear to you that the Bride is similarly called a flock, if you remember how earnestly the Saviour warned that first pastor (I mean St. Peter) to tend it with love when the sheep of it were for the first time committed to his charge. This that wise bestower of the trust {creditor) would not have done with such great care if He had not felt, from the witness of His own inmost heart, that this was the Bride of which He was the Bridegroom. Take good heed of this, O friends of the Bridegroom, if you are in truth His friends. But I have said too little in calling you simply friends. For it behoves those upon whom is bestowed the privilege of such familiar intimacy to be the very closest and dearest of friends to Him. It was not without a significant purpose that, when confiding the care of His sheep to St. Peter, He repeated so frequently, Lovest thou Me? (John xxi. 15-17). And I think that the significance of it was as if Jesus had said: 4 If your conscience does not bear you witness that you love Me, that you love Me perfectly and entirely, that is to say, more than your own interests, more than your relatives, more even than your own self, so thai the number of this threefold repetition of Mine may be fulfilled, then by no means do thou take upon thee this charge, nor in any wise presume to concern thyself with My sheep, for whom My Blood was poured forth. ' An address which is indeed terrible, and capable of shaking the hearts of tyrants, however hardened.

9. Wherefore be ye watchful, whosoever of you have been chosen and called to the work of this ministry; take watchful heed, I say, to yourselves, and to the precious deposit which has been entrusted to you. It is a city; watch, then, to maintain it in safety and concord. It is a Bride; study to present her to the Lord decked with the precious jewels of abundant virtues. It is a flock; study diligently to give it needful pasture. And perhaps we may not unfitly explain by these three elements of pastoral duty the threefold question which the Lord addressed to St Peter. Now, that the watch and ward over the city may be effective, it must be of three kinds: against the violence of tyrants, against the deception from heretics, and against the temptations of evil spirits. Again, the ornaments of the Bride ought to be of three kinds: of good works, of a saintly character, of high and noble principles. And the needful nourishment of the sheep is ordinarily indeed in the good pastures of the Holy Scriptures as being the heritage of the Lord; but there is a distinction in these.

For there are commandments which are imposed upon hard and carnal hearts, as a discipline and for the law of life; and there are miscellaneous masses1 of dispensations, which are appointed on account of pity to those that are weak and of little courage; and there are counsels strong and solid, which are proposed from the inmost recesses of wisdom to those who have health and strength, and senses trained to discern good from evil. For to those who are as children, or, so to speak, as little lambs, is given the milk of exhortation and encouragement, not strong meat To this end, good and careful pastors do not cease to feed their flock to fatness with salutary and encouraging examples, and preferably with their own rather than with those of others. For if they offer only those of other people, and not their own, this is to their shame, and, also, their flock do not profit. For if, to give an instance, I, who appear to bear the charge of pastor among you, should set before you the meekness of Moses, the patience of Job, the mercy of Samuel, the holiness of David, and other similar examples of various virtues, and be myself impatient and severe, unmerciful, and in no way holy, my discourse would, I fear, be void of all force and unction, nor would you care to listen to it But this I leave to the Divine goodness, that it may supply what is wanting and correct what is amiss in my conduct towards you. The good pastor will also take care to have in himself that salt of which the Gospel speaks (Mark ix. 49), knowing that a discourse seasoned with salt is agreeable and also salutary. This is what- 1 have for the present to say regarding the safe keeping of the city, the adorning of the Bride, and the nourishment of the flock.

10. Yet I wish to set forth the same truths somewhat more in detail, and with respect to those who, while they thirst for' honours with excessive desire, and engage rashly to bear the burden of duties to which they are unequal, expose themselves thereby to very great peril, so that they may know what they are entering upon, according to the question that is asked in the Scripture: Friend, wherefore art thou cornel (Matt. xxvi. 50). If I do not mistake, for the safe keeping of the city only, it is absolutely necessary that a man should be strong, faithful, and spiritually minded. He must be strong to repulse the assaults of its enemies, spiritually minded that he may discover their crafty devices, and faithful that he may not seek to advance his own interests. In the next place, for the elevation and training of souls (for this is what is signified and referred to in the adorning of the Bride), who does not at once perceive that a firm bond of discipline, as well as a sedulous diligence, is required? On that account everyone who is engaged in this ministry needs to burn with fervent zeal. It was with this that Apostle was fired who was so jealous for the glory of the Bride of the Lord, for he said: I am jealous over you with godly jealousy, for I have espoused you to one husband that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ (2 Cor. xi. 2). And, lastly, [a pastor must not be ignorant], for how can one who is so conduct 1 Olera, The word implies a certain disdain and disapproval. — Ed.

the Lord's flocks to the sweet pastures of the Divine oracles? But if he be a learned man, indeed, but not a good man, then it is to be feared that he will not so much nourish his flock by the abundance of his doctrine, as he will starve them by the barrenness of his life. Without having knowledge, then, and at the same time a good and praiseworthy life, it is mere rashness for anyone to take upon him the burden of this office. But see, I am obliged to come to an end, though I have not finished what T have to say upon this subject. We are called to another matter, to which it is an unworthy thing that this should give way.1 I am pressed on all sides, and I know not which I ought to suffer the more impatiently, to be dragged in one direction, and repressed on another, though to endure the two together is worse than either separately. O servitude! O necessity! not what I desire, but what I hate, that I do. Notice, however, where we leave off, so that as soon as it shall be free to us to return to the subject, we may take it up from this point; in the Name of Him who is the Bridegroom of the Church, Jesus Christ our Lord,