Song of Solomon 2:10

What the sequence of the drama contains we have already described above; but now let us consider what either the Word of God is to be understood as saying to the soul that is worthy of it and suited to it, or what Christ is to be understood as saying to the Church. But meanwhile let the Word of God first speak to this beautiful and comely soul, to whom, through the bodily senses -- that is, through the gaze of reading and through the hearing of teaching -- he appeared as if through windows, and showed the loftiness of his greatness, so that in the passages above he spoke to her while leaning over, and calling her forth, that she might come outside, and, being now made to be beyond the bodily senses, might cease to be in the flesh, so that she might deservedly hear: "But you are not in the flesh, but in the spirit." For the Word of God would not call her his neighbor in such a way unless he joined himself to her and became one spirit with him; nor would he call her beautiful unless he saw his image being renewed in her from day to day; and unless he saw her capable of receiving the Holy Spirit, who descended in the form of a dove upon Jesus in the Jordan, he would not say to her: "My dove." For she had conceived a love of the Word of God, and desired to come to him in swift flight, saying: "Who will give me wings like a dove, and I shall fly, and be at rest?" I shall fly with the senses, I shall fly with the spiritual understandings, and I shall be at rest when I have laid hold of the treasures of his wisdom and knowledge. For I think that, just as those who receive the death of Christ, and mortify their members upon the earth, become sharers in the likeness of his death, so also those who receive the power of the Holy Spirit, and are sanctified by him, and filled with his gifts -- since he himself appeared in the form of a dove -- may themselves also become doves, that they may fly up from earthly and bodily places to the heavenly ones, lifted up on the wings of the Holy Spirit. But that this may be the fitting time in which these things can come to be, he consequently added: "For behold," he says, "the winter has passed, the rain has gone." For the soul is not joined and united to the Word of God before every winter of disturbances and every storm of vices has departed from her, so that she may no longer be tossed about, and carried around by every wind of doctrine.

When, therefore, all these things have departed from the soul, and the tempest of desires has fled from her, then the flowers of the virtues will begin to bloom in her; then the time of pruning also will come to her mind, and if anything superfluous and less useful has been in her senses or understandings, it will be cut away, and she will be recalled to the buds of spiritual understanding. Then also she will hear the voice of the turtledove -- that voice, without doubt, of the wisdom which the dispenser of the word speaks among the perfect, the higher wisdom of God which is hidden in a mystery. For this is what the naming of the turtledove indicates. For this bird passes its life in more secret places, remote from the multitude, either loving the deserts of the mountains or the hidden recesses of the woods, always set far from the multitude, and a stranger to the crowds. But what else is there that befits the opportuneness and the loveliness of this time? "The fig tree," he says, "has put forth its shoots." Not yet, indeed, the fruits themselves of the Spirit, which are joy, charity, peace, and the rest, but nevertheless the spirit of man -- which in him is singularly named the fig tree -- already begins to bring forth their shoots. For just as generally in the Church the various trees are understood to be each of the souls of believers, of which it is said: "Every tree which my heavenly Father has not planted shall be rooted up." And again Paul, who says that he is a fellow worker of God in God's husbandry, himself also says: "I planted, Apollos watered." But the Lord too in the Gospels: "Either make the tree good, and its fruit good; or the tree bad, and its fruit bad." Just as, therefore, generally in the Church the several believers are understood as various trees, so also in each soul the various virtues and its various efficacies are understood as various trees. There is, therefore, also in the soul a certain fig tree which puts forth its shoot; there is also a vine which may flower, and give forth its fragrance. The branches of this vine the heavenly Father, the husbandman, prunes, that they may bring forth much fruit. But this vine first, by the sweetness of the fragrance which is given forth from the flower, gladdens the sense of smell; according to him who said: "For we are the good fragrance of Christ to God in every place." Seeing, therefore, these beginnings of the virtues in the soul, the Word of God calls her to himself, that she may hasten and go forth; and, casting aside all bodily things, may come to him, that she may become a partaker of his perfection.

Therefore, then, to her who as it were still lies prostrate and is bent down upon bodily things, he first says: Rise up; and to her who, as it were, has straightway obeyed and complied with the one calling her, he gives praise and she hears: My neighbor, and my dove. And after this, lest she tremble at the whirlwinds of temptations, he announces to her that the winter has departed, and the rain has passed and gone away for itself. And he has finely signified the nature of vices and sins by uttering one wonderful saying, so that he calls "winter" and "rain" of this kind that which descends from the offense and storm of vices, indicating that it has gone away for itself, and by this that sins have no substance. For the vices that fall away from a man are not gathered together into some other substance of sins, but they go away for themselves, and dissolved into their own selves they vanish, and are reduced to nothing. And therefore he said, "it has gone away for itself." There comes about, then, a tranquility of the soul when the Word of God appears to it and sin ceases; and thus at last, when the vineyard is in flower, the virtues and the young trees of good works will begin to bring forth fruit.

But now again Christ speaks these things to the Church, and sets the whole span of the present age within the circuit of a year. And by "winter" he indicates that time in which either the hail and whirlwinds and the remaining blows of the ten plagues scourged the Egyptians; or when Israel was enduring diverse wars; or even when it resisted the Savior himself, and, seized by the whirlwind of unbelief, was sunk in the shipwreck of faith. Since, therefore, by their offense salvation has been made for the nations, he now calls the Church to himself, and says to her: Rise up, and come to me, for now the winter which drowned the unbelievers, and was holding you back in ignorance, has withdrawn. But the rain also has passed away, that is, now I will no longer command the clouds—namely the prophets—to rain the rain of the Word upon the lands; but the very voice of the turtledove, that is, the very wisdom of God itself, will speak in the lands, and will say: I who was speaking am myself present. The flowers, therefore, of the believing peoples and of the rising Churches have appeared in the land. But the time of pruning also has come, through faith in my passion and resurrection. For sins are cut off and excised from men, when in baptism the remission of sins is granted. The voice of the turtledove, as we have said, is now heard in the lands not through diverse prophets, but through the mouth of the wisdom of God itself. And the fig tree buds forth, which can be understood in the fruits of the Holy Spirit, which now for the first time are opened and shown to the Church; or even in the letter of the law, which before the coming of Christ was closed and constricted, and covered over with a certain garment of carnal understanding. But from his presence and coming there was brought forth from it the bud of spiritual understanding, and the green and living sense which was hidden in it appeared, so that the Church, which was hidden by Christ within the fig tree—that is, within the law—should not appear dry and following the letter that kills, but the flowering and life-giving spirit.

But the vines also are said to flower, and to have given their fragrance. Now the diverse Churches which are held throughout the world can indeed be called flowering vines, or vineyards. For the vineyard of the Lord of Sabaoth is the house of Israel, and the house of Judah is his beloved young plant. These vineyards, therefore, when they first come to the faith, are said to flower; but when they are adorned through the religion of their works with sweetness, they are said to have given their fragrance; not without reason, I think, that he did not say, "they gave a fragrance," but "their own fragrance": so as to show that there is present in each soul the force of possibility and the freedom of will, by which it can do all that is good. But because this good of nature, plucked away by the occasion of transgression, had been bent either to ignominy or to wantonness, when it is repaired through grace, and restored through the teaching of the Word of God, it renders without doubt that fragrance which God the first Creator had implanted in it, but which the fault of sin had taken away. And by "vines" or "vineyards" there can also be understood the heavenly and angelic powers, which bestow upon men their fragrance, that is, the good of teaching and instruction, by which they instruct and imbue souls, until they come to perfection and begin to be made capable of God. Just as the Apostle also, writing to the Hebrews, says: Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth in ministry for the sake of those who receive the inheritance of salvation? And therefore men are said to receive from these, as it were, the first flower and fragrance of good works: but the very fruits of the vine they are to hope for from him who said: I will not drink of the offspring of this vine, until I drink it new with you in the kingdom of my Father. Those perfect flowers and fruits, therefore, are to be hoped for from him: but the beginnings and, so to speak, the sweetness of making progress can be ministered by the heavenly powers, or certainly through those who were saying, as we said above, that we are the good fragrance of Christ to God in every place.

But we can also understand in yet another way these matters that are before us, so that we may say that there seems to be here, as it were, a certain prophecy made to the Church, by which she is called to the promises of things to come — so that, as it were, after the consummation of the age, when the time of the resurrection has arrived, it is said to her: Arise. And because this word at once designates the work of the resurrection — as though, made brighter and more splendid by the resurrection, she is invited to the kingdom — it is said to her: Come, my neighbor, my beautiful one, my dove, for the winter has passed. By "winter" he undoubtedly names the storms and whirlwinds of this present life, by which human life is tossed about with the tempests of temptations. That winter, then, has passed with its rains, and has gone its way. Each one has done for himself in this life everything that he has done. But the flowers are the beginning of the promises to come. Understand as the time of pruning the axe laid to the root of the tree at the consummation of the age, that it may cut down every tree not bearing good fruit. But mark as the voice of the turtledove — which is heard in the writings of the promise, which the meek shall receive in their inheritance — the person of Christ teaching face to face, and no longer through a mirror and in a riddle. And let the fig tree that puts forth its shoot be reckoned the fruit of the whole congregation of the just. But those holy and blessed angelic powers, with whom each of the elect and the blessed shall be joined out of the resurrection — who shall be as the angels of God — these are themselves the vines and the flowering vineyards, which impart their fragrance to each soul, and the grace which it first received from its Creator, and now has recovered again after it had been lost; and by the sweetness of the heavenly fragrance they at last drive away from them the stench of mortality and corruption, once it has been cast off.

These are the matters which, as we indicated above, seemed to us to present the greatest difficulty both in setting the order straight and in opening up their meaning. And this, I think, our present renewed investigation of the words will have rendered clearer. But the spiritual interpretation in these passages is not held to be so laborious and difficult. For the soul, the bride of the Word, which abides in the royal house — that is, in the Church — is taught by the Word of God, who is her Bridegroom, whatever things have been laid up and stored away within the royal hall and the king's chamber. In this house, which is the Church of the living God, she learns also the cellars of that wine which has been gathered from the holy winepresses — cellars of wine not only new but also old and sweet, which is the teaching of the law and the prophets. And when she has been sufficiently trained in these, she may receive into herself Him who was in the beginning with God, God the Word — yet He does not always remain with her, for this is not possible for human nature; but at one time she is visited by Him, and at another she is abandoned, so that she may desire Him the more. And when she is visited by the Word of God according to the sense of the verse set before us, He is said to come to her leaping over the mountains — that is, revealing to her the lofty and elevated meanings of heavenly knowledge, so that He arrives even at the building up of the Church, which is the house of the living God, the pillar and ground of truth, and He stands beside the wall, or behind the wall, so that He is neither wholly hidden nor entirely out in the open. For the Word of God, and the discourse of knowledge, does not appear set out in public and openly, nor to be trampled underfoot; but when it has been sought, it is found, and it is found not, as we said, placed in the open, but covered over, and lying hidden as it were behind a wall. But the soul which is said to be in the Church is not understood to be set within buildings of walls, but placed within the defenses of faith and the buildings of wisdom, and covered over by the lofty summits of charity. Therefore a good resolve, and faith in right doctrines, makes the soul to be in the house of the Church; certain members of which house are called either the chamber, or the house of wine, or others of this kind, according, that is, to the grades of graces and the varieties of spiritual gifts. So then the wall too is now a certain part of this house, which can signify the firmness of doctrines; beneath which the Bridegroom is said to stand, and in which He is so great and so lofty that He rises above the whole building, and looks upon the bride, that is, the soul; and not yet indeed does He show Himself open and wholly manifest to her, but, as it were looking through the nets, He urges her on and provokes her not to sit within, sluggish, but to go out to Him without; and to strive so that now she may see Him not through windows and nets, nor through a mirror in a riddle, but going forth outside, face to face. For now, since she cannot yet gaze upon Him thus, He therefore stands not before her, but behind her and behind the wall. And He leans in through the windows, which without doubt lay open for the receiving of light to illuminate the house. Through these, then, the discourse of God, leaning in and looking through, provokes the soul to rise up and to come to Him. But we may understand the windows to be the bodily senses, through which either death or life enters into the soul; for so does it signify when the prophet Jeremiah speaks concerning sinners, saying: "Death has climbed up through your windows." How does death climb up through the windows? If the eyes of a sinner should look upon a woman, and he should commit adultery with her in his heart, thus death has entered into the soul through the windows of the eyes. But also when someone receives an empty hearing, and especially of the false doctrines of perverse knowledge, then through the windows of the ears death enters into the soul. But if the soul, beholding the adornment of the world, and from the beauty of creatures perceiving God the Maker of all, should marvel at His works, and praise the Creator of the works, then life enters into the soul through the windows of the eyes. And also when it inclines its hearing to the Word of God, and delights in the reasonings of His wisdom and knowledge, to this soul, through the windows of the ears, the light of wisdom enters. Through these windows, then, the Word of God looking through, and directing His gaze toward the soul His bride, exhorts her to rise up and to come to Him — that is, to leave behind bodily and visible things, and to hasten to the incorporeal and invisible and spiritual things. Since the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. Thus also the Spirit of God is said to go about, and to seek out worthy souls, which can fittingly and rightly be made into a dwelling-place of wisdom. But that He is said to look through the nets of the windows, this without doubt signifies that, so long as the soul is placed in the house of this body, it cannot grasp the wisdom of God naked and open, but through certain examples and indications and images of visible things it contemplates those things which are invisible and incorporeal; and this is for the Bridegroom to look upon her through the nets of the windows. But if we should expound these things of Christ and the Church, the house in which the Church dwelt is the Scriptures of the law and the prophets. For there is the king's chamber, filled with all the riches of knowledge and wisdom. There too is the house of wine, that is, the teaching either mystical or moral, which gladdens the heart of man. Coming, then, Christ stood a little while behind the wall of the Old Testament. For He stood behind the wall, when He was not made manifest to the people; but when the time was at hand, and He began to appear through the windows of the law and the prophets — that is, through those things which had been foretold concerning Him — and to show Himself to the Church seated within the house, that is, within the letter of the law, He provokes her to go out from there, and to come outside to Him. For unless she goes out, unless she comes forth, and advances from the letter to the spirit, she cannot be joined to her Bridegroom, nor associated with Christ. He calls her, therefore, and invites her to come from carnal things to spiritual, from visible to invisible, from the law to the Gospels. And therefore He says to her: "Rise up, come, my neighbor, my beautiful one, my dove." And that we may also anticipate some of the things that are to be said afterward, fearing to lose the sense which presents itself in this place: for this reason perhaps He also says that to her, that "the winter too has passed, the rain has gone away," at the same time indicating also the time of His passion, that, the winter being past and the showers cast down, He Himself suffered; and at the same time signifying also this by spiritual understanding, that up to that time in which Christ suffered, there were showers upon the earth. For the Lord still commanded the showers — that is, the prophets — to rain the rain of the word upon the earth. But since up to John the Baptist the prophetic offices are brought to an end, rightly are the showers said to have gone away and departed. But the prophetic showers ceased not to the harm of believers, but for the greater gains of the Church. For what need is there of showers, where the river of God gladdens the city? where in the heart of each of the believers there becomes a fountain of living water springing up unto life eternal? What need of showers, where now the flowers have appeared in our land, and from the coming of the Lord the fig tree is no longer cut down, which before had brought forth no fruit? For now it has already put forth its unripe figs. But the vines too have given their fragrance. Whence also a certain one from that vineyard said: "For we are the good fragrance of Christ unto God in every place, among those who are being saved, and among those who are perishing." But these things, as we indicated above, we have set forth before we presumed to come to the very passages of Scripture, lest perchance the sense which seemed to present itself at the moment should escape us: now let us take up again how He is said to look through the nets. It is written: "For not in vain are nets stretched out for the birds." And again: "The just man, if he should fall into sin, is bidden to flee, just as the roe from the snares, and the bird from the nets." Full, therefore, is the life of mortals of the snares of offenses, full of the nets of deceptions, which he stretches out against the human race who against the Lord is called the giant hunter Nimrod. For who is the true giant other than the devil, who also rebels against God? For the snares of temptations, and the traps of ambushes, are called the nets of the devil. And since the enemy had stretched out these nets everywhere, and had entangled almost all in them, there needed to be someone who should become stronger and more eminent than they, and should crush them, so that He might be able to open a way for those who follow Him. For this reason, therefore, the Savior too, before He came into wedlock and fellowship with the Church, was tempted by the devil, so that overcoming the nets of temptations He might look through them, and through them call her to Himself, showing her without doubt and teaching her that it was not through leisure and delights, but through many tribulations and temptations, that she must come to Christ. There was, therefore, no other who could overcome those nets. For all have sinned, as it is written. And again, as the Scripture says: "There is not a just man upon the earth who will do good, and will not sin." And again: "No one is clean from filth, not even if his life should be of one day." He alone, therefore, is our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who committed no sin, but the Father made Him to be sin for us, in the likeness of the flesh of sin, that from sin He might condemn sin. He came, therefore, to those nets, but He alone could not be entangled in them: nay rather, having burst and crushed them, He gives to His Church confidence, so that she may now dare to make void the snares, and to pass through the nets, and with all eagerness to say: "Our soul, like a sparrow, has been snatched from the snare of the hunters; the snare has been crushed, and we have been set free." But who crushed the snares, except He who alone could not be held in them? Although He too was in death voluntarily, and not, as we, by the necessity of sin. For He alone it is who was free among the dead. And because He was free among the dead, therefore, having conquered him who held the dominion of death, He drew away the captivity which was held in death. And He not only raised Himself from the dead, but also those who were held in death He at the same time roused up, and at the same time made to sit in the heavenly places. For ascending on high He led captivity captive, not only leading forth souls, but also raising up their bodies, as the Gospel testifies that many bodies of the saints were raised up, and appeared to many, and entered into the holy city of the living God, Jerusalem. This exposition concerning the nets has been taken up by us in the second place. Let it indeed be the reader's judgment which of them cannot but be more worthily fitted to mystical utterances.

Each one of the blessed will first be obliged to travel the narrow and hard way in winter to show what knowledge he has acquired for guiding his life, so that afterwards there may take place what is said in the Song of Songs to the bride when she has safely passed through the winter. For she says, "My beloved answers and says to me, 'Arise and come away, my love, my fair one, my dove; for lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone.' " And you must keep in mind that you cannot hear "the winter is past" any other way than by entering the contest of this present winter with all your strength and might and main. And after the winter is past and the rain is over and gone, the flowers will appear that are planted in the house of the Lord and flourish in the courts of our God.

Rise up, come, my love, my beautiful one, my dove. Why does he say, "Rise up"? Why "make haste"? I for your sake bore the raging of the tempests; I received the billows which were owed to you. My soul was made sorrowful for you, even unto death. I rose from the dead, the stings of death being broken and the bonds of hell dissolved; therefore I say to you: Rise up, come, my love, my beautiful one, my dove: for behold, the winter is past, the rain is gone away, the flowers have appeared in the earth. I, rising from the dead, the tempest being stilled, have restored calm. And because, according to the dispensation of the flesh from the Virgin, and by the will of the Father, I grew, and advanced in wisdom and in age, the flowers have appeared in the earth; the time of pruning is at hand. The pruning is the remission of sins. For every branch, he says, abiding in me and bearing fruit, my Father cleanses, that it may bear greater fruit. Have fruits, and the former things which are unfruitful in you shall be taken away. For the time of pruning is at hand.

He is a fine deer, whose mountain is the house of God, to which he runs with such speed that he surpasses the wishes and desires of his bride. Indeed, when he saw him coming from afar, he suddenly recognized that he was present beside him. Hence he says: Behold, he is here behind our wall, looking through the windows, peering through the lattice. My cousin answered and said to me: Arise, come, my nearest one, my beautiful one, my dove; for behold, winter has passed, the rain has gone, it has departed for itself, flowers have appeared on the earth. Winter is the Synagogue: the rain is the Jewish people, who could not see the sun: the apostles are the flowers. And he added: The harvest of the incision has come, the voice of the turtledove was heard in our land. That harvest is the faith of the Church: the voice of the turtledove is chastity.

"Arise, come to me, my love," that is, rise from worldly pleasures, rise from earthly things, and come to me, who are still laboring and burdened, because you are anxious for the things of the world. Come above the world, come to me, for I have conquered the world. Come near to me now, beautiful with the beauty of eternal life, now a dove, that is, gentle and meek, now completely full of spiritual grace. Now winter has passed, that is, Easter has come, indulgence has come, remission of sins has come, temptation has ceased, the rain has gone, the storm has gone, and the shaking. Before the coming of Christ, there is winter, after His coming there are flowers. Hence it says: Flowers are seen on the earth. Where there were thorns before, there are now flowers. It is said that the time for cutting has come. Where there was a desert before, there is now a harvest. The voice of the turtle-dove has been heard in our land.

Then the bridegroom makes answer to the bride and teaches her that the shadow of the old law has passed away and the truth of the gospel has come. "Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away, for lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone." … "The voice of the turtle [dove] is heard in our land." The turtle [dove], the most chaste of birds, always dwelling in lofty places, is a type of the Savior.

Also in the Song of Songs we find Christ calling to the bride there described, and who represents the person of the church, in these words: "Arise, come, my neighbor, my beautiful dove. For lo! the winter is past, and the rain is gone; it has passed away. The flowers appear on the ground. The time of the pruning is come." … A certain spring-like calm was about to arise for those who believe in him.

It makes sense, therefore, for the bridegroom to call the bride, mature in virtue as she is, "dove," that is, spiritual and filled with the Holy Spirit.…The bridegroom encourages and consoles his church in its struggle with trials, "peeps through the windows and looks in through the netting," and urges her to stand fast and to fly to him.…
He is saying, if you rest in the middle of the two Testaments and draw benefit from both, you will find there the manifold gifts of the Spirit. The bride, accordingly, by accepting the spiritual exhortation and lying between the lots, found the wings coated in silver through which she was bidden fly up to the bridegroom.

Behold, my beloved speaks to me, "Arise," etc. All things have their season, and all things pass in their own time under heaven (Eccles. III). Therefore, the bride of Christ, namely the Church, or any chosen soul, has a time for resting; likewise, it has a time for rising to work. Finally, as above, he adjures the daughters of Jerusalem not to awaken or arouse her until she pleases, and now, with a changed tone, he himself bids her to rise and come quickly to him; no longer does he consent to her entering the flowery bed with celestial studies, but rather he instructs her to go out with him to cultivate the vineyards and drive away harmful beasts from them, as the subsequent song teaches; adding to provoke and inflame her zeal that, with the winter seasons passed, the mild spring now aids the industry of the laborer, and even the arrival and songs of spring birds make the rural places more joyful than the courtly ones, and the bloom of flowers promises future fruit to the farmers. But since we have barely touched the surface of the letters, let us now turn our pen to exploring the depths of the allegorical senses. It was said above, under the figure of a roe or a fawn of the hinds, how the Lord reveals the secrets of heavenly contemplation through internal visions. It was said under the figure of him standing behind our wall and looking through windows and lattice, how he often illuminates the whole Church, though still invisible, with the frequent regard of salutary compunction. It remains now to intimate how he incites the same Church, either to the office of preaching or to the exercise of good works. "Arise," he says, "hurry, my friend, my dove, my beautiful one, and come. Arise from that bed much beloved by you, in which you delight in caring for yourself through psalms and prayers and other studies of life. Hurry, and come to also devote care to the salvation of others, through the zeal of diligent preaching: for indeed we hurry to the Lord who calls us, by performing works of virtue for His cause."

"Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away," etc. If, according to the Apostle's exposition, the Rock was Christ (1 Corinthians 10), what are the clefts of the rock except the wounds which Christ received for our salvation? In these very clefts the dove resides and nests, whether each meek soul or the entire Church, places its sole hope of salvation in the Lord's passion, relying on the sacrament of his death to protect themselves, as if from the snatching of a hawk by an ancient enemy, and strives to bring forth spiritual offspring—either children or virtues—in the same. Hence well Jeremiah, under the guise of Moab, urging heretics to the unity of ecclesiastical faith, says, "Leave the cities and dwell in the rock, inhabitants of Moab. Be like a dove nesting in the highest mouth of the cleft" (Jeremiah 48). Moreover, the wall which is usually constructed of stones to fortify vineyards (whence it is said in the song of Isaiah, "My beloved had a vineyard on a very fertile hill, and he built a wall around it" [Isaiah 5]) signifies the guardianship of heavenly virtues by which the Lord surrounds the Church, his vineyard, lest it be ravaged by the incursions of unclean spirits like those of wicked creatures. Hence, therefore, the Psalmist says, "The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him, and delivers them" (Psalm 34). And the Apostle, speaking of angels, says, "Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?" (Hebrews 1). Thus, in this secure wall, the bride and friend of Christ, like a dove, finds a hole for herself, while the Holy Church has learned to defend itself from the deceptions of the devil through angelic help. Therefore, the Lord exhorts the same Church, He exhorts every soul devoted to Him, to the exercise of holy and fruitful labor; and He says, "Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come away. For behold, the winter is past," and so on, until He says, "Arise, my love, my bride, and come away; my dove in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the cliff." As if He openly says, "After the tempest of the Gentile life has been removed by divine mercy, after the flowers of saving conversation have already emerged on earth, after the vines have begun to be pruned by the celestial husbandmen with the sickle of discernment so that the wicked are separated from the just and the vices from the virtues, after the herald of salvation has already widely resounded in the world, after the world itself has been converted to the acknowledgment of the truth, and the most delightful fame of new life has spread among the Gentiles, I beseech you, O greatly beloved company of faithful souls, to whom I have bestowed the gifts of my friendship, whom I have deigned to unite to myself as a bride, to whom I have given the simplicity of the dove-like mind by the infusion of my Spirit, for whose health and life I have taken upon myself wounds and death, to whom I have granted the help of heavenly protection against invisible enemies; I beseech you, I say, who have been made the recipient of such gifts, not to become sluggish in idle ease, but to rather hasten to gird yourself with zealous effort and diligence in the esteemed struggle for eternal rest."

On account of faith, Christ calls his bride his friend; a dove on account of simplicity; beautiful on account of her works. For since without faith we cannot please God, rightly through faith we are called friends, because while by faith we seek heavenly things, having cast aside earthly things, we cling to God. The soul is rightly called a dove on account of simplicity, because while it searches for the simple God with simplicity of heart, it by no means pursues in dissoluteness the foolish joy of the world, but always hastening toward eternal things, it lovingly imitates the groaning of the dove. The soul is rightly called beautiful on account of her works, because while she redeems the sins of her past life through good works, she hides, as it were, her former ugliness by assuming a better form before the eyes of the Bridegroom. Therefore the Bridegroom exhorts her to arise and come, because it is fitting that whoever hastens to the love of Christ should cast off the sluggishness of the flesh as much as he can, and gird himself quickly to attain eternal things.

"Behold, my beloved speaks to me" (Song 2:10). See the advances of grace, and mark the degrees of divine condescension. Attend to the devotion and skill of the bride, with what vigilant eye she observes the advent of the bridegroom, and thereafter gazes upon all his movements more diligently. He comes, he hastens, he draws near, he is present, he looks upon her, he speaks to her; and none of these moments escapes the industry of the bride, anticipating each with her awareness. He comes in the angels, he hastens in the patriarchs, he draws near in the prophets, he is present in the flesh, he looks upon her in miracles, he speaks in the apostles. Or thus: He comes with the affection and zeal of showing mercy, he hastens with the eagerness of bringing aid, he draws near by humbling himself, he is present to those of the present time, he looks ahead to those of the future, he speaks teaching and persuading concerning the kingdom of God. Thus therefore is the advent of the bridegroom. Blessings and riches of salvation are with him, and all things that pertain to him overflow with delights, abounding surely in joyful and salutary sacraments. Moreover she who loves, watches and observes. And blessed is she whom the Lord shall find watching. He will not pass her by, nor will he go past her, but he will stand and speak to her, and he will speak words of love: he will speak indeed as a beloved. For thus you have it: "Behold, my beloved speaks to me." Rightly "beloved," who comes to speak words of love, and not of reproach.

For she is not of those who are justly reproached by the Lord, that they knew how to discern the face of the sky, but did not at all recognize the time of his coming (Mt 16:3). For this bride, so skillful, and prudent, and well-watchful, both saw him coming from afar, and noticed him leaping on account of his haste, and most vigilantly observed him leaping over the proud, that he might draw near to his humble one through humility; and at last, when he was already standing and hiding himself behind the wall, she nonetheless recognized his presence, and also perceived him looking through the windows and lattices; and now, as a reward for such great devotion and religious solicitude, she hears him speaking. For indeed if he had looked upon her and had not at all spoken, that look could have been suspect, lest perhaps it were of indignation rather than of love. For he looked upon Peter, and did not make a word to him: and therefore Peter perhaps wept (Lk 22:61-62), because he who was looking upon him was silent. But this bride, since after his gaze she also merited his address, not only does not weep, but even glories with joy, crying out: "Behold, my beloved speaks to me." You see that the gaze of the Lord, although it always remains the same in itself, is nevertheless not always of the same efficacy; but it conforms itself to the merits of each one whom he regards, and to some indeed it strikes fear, but to others it rather brings consolation and security. For he looks upon the earth and makes it tremble, whereas on the other hand he looked upon Mary and poured grace into her. "He has regarded," she says, "the humility of his handmaid; for behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed" (Lk 1:48). These are not the words of one weeping or trembling, but of one rejoicing. He looked upon the bride similarly in this place, and she neither trembled nor wept after the manner of Peter, because she did not savor of the earth, as he did; but he gave joy in her heart, testifying by his address with what affection he had regarded her.

Hear then the words which he speaks, how they are not of one who is indignant, but of one who loves. There follows: "Arise, make haste, my love, my dove, my beautiful one." Happy the conscience that merits to hear these things of itself! Who, do you think, among us is so watchful and observant of the time of his visitation, and so diligently scrutinizing the bridegroom as he approaches through each of his movements, that when he has come and knocked, he may immediately open to him? For these things are not so related of the Church that we individually, who together are the Church, should not have to participate in these her blessings. For in this we are all generally and without distinction called, that we may possess blessings as an inheritance. Whence also one dared to say to the Lord indeed: "I have acquired your testimonies as an inheritance forever, because they are the exultation of my heart" (Ps 119:111); by that inheritance, I think, by which he presumed himself to be a son of his father, who is in heaven. Moreover if a son, then also an heir; an heir of God, and a co-heir with Christ. He glories that he has acquired a great thing by this inheritance, namely the testimonies of the Lord. Would that I had merited to hold even one testimony of the Lord concerning myself! because he exults not in one, but in many testimonies. For he says again: "In the way of your testimonies I have delighted, as in all riches" (Ps 119:14). And truly what are the riches of salvation, what are the delights of the heart, what is the true and prudent security of the soul, if not the attestations of the Lord? "For it is not he who commends himself," he says, "who is approved, but he whom God commends" (2 Cor 10:18).

Why are we hitherto still defrauded of these divine commendations and attestations, and deprived of our paternal inheritance? As if he had not willingly begotten us also by the word of truth, so we remember ourselves commended by him in no such way, nor to have obtained any testimonies of his concerning ourselves. Where is what the Apostle says, that "the Spirit of God himself gives testimony to our spirit, that we are sons of God" (Rom 8:16)? How are we sons, if we are without share in the inheritance? Our very poverty itself convicts us surely of negligence and carelessness. For if any one of us, wholly and perfectly, according to the word of the Wise man, would give his heart to watching at dawn for the Lord who made him, and would pray in the sight of the Most High (Sir 39:6), and at the same time with all his desires would strive, according to Isaiah the prophet, to prepare the ways of the Lord, to make straight the paths of his God (Isa 40:3), so that it would be his to say with the Prophet: "My eyes are always toward the Lord" (Ps 25:15); and "I foresaw the Lord in my sight always" (Ps 16:8): would not this man receive a blessing from the Lord, and mercy from the God of his salvation? (Ps 24:5). He would be visited frequently indeed, nor would he ever be ignorant of the time of his visitation, however secretly and furtively he who visits in spirit may come, as being a bashful lover. Therefore while he is still far off, the well-watchful soul will discern him with a sober mind, and thereafter will discover all those things which we have shown the bride to have noticed so skillfully and so distinctly in the advent of the beloved, because he himself says: "Those who watch for me in the morning shall find me" (Prov 8:17). For she will also recognize the desire of the one hastening; and when he is near, and when he is already at hand, she will immediately perceive; and also the eye of the one looking upon her, entering like a ray of the sun through windows and cracks of the wall, she will behold with a blessed eye: and at last she will hear voices of exultation and love, being called love, dove, beautiful one.

Who is wise and will understand these things, so as to be able also worthily to distinguish them from one another, and to designate each one, and to define them for the understanding of others? If that is expected of me, I would prefer to hear these things from one experienced, and one who is accustomed and exercised in such matters. But since everyone who is of this kind modestly chooses rather to conceal in silence what he perceives in silence, and to keep his secret to himself, judging that safer for himself: I say, I whose office it is to speak, and to whom silence is not permitted, whatever it is that I hold of such matters either from my own or from another's experience, and what many can easily experience, leaving aside indeed the higher things for those who are able to grasp them. If therefore I shall have been admonished, either outwardly by a man or inwardly by the Spirit, concerning the guarding of justice and the keeping of equity; such a salutary persuasion will be for me indeed a herald of the imminent coming of the bridegroom, and a certain preparation for worthily receiving the heavenly visitor, the Prophet indicating this to me by saying that "justice shall walk before him" (Ps 85:13); and likewise he speaks to God thus: "Justice and judgment," he says, "are the preparation of your seat" (Ps 89:14). No less indeed will the same hope smile upon me, if a word has sounded concerning humility or patience, or even concerning fraternal charity and obedience to be rendered to superiors; but especially concerning the pursuit of holiness and peace, and the seeking of purity of heart, since indeed Scripture says: "Holiness befits the house of the Lord" (Ps 93:5); and: "His place has been made in peace" (Ps 76:2); and: "The pure in heart shall see God" (Mt 5:8). Whatever therefore, whether concerning these or any other virtues, shall have been suggested to the mind, it will be a sign, as I have said, that the visitation of the Lord of hosts is imminent for my soul.

But also if a just man shall correct me in mercy, and rebuke me, I shall feel the same thing, knowing that the zeal and benevolence of the just man make a way for him who ascends above the west (Ps 68:4). A good setting, when at the correction of the just man the man stands firm, and the vice falls, and the Lord ascends above it, trampling it underfoot and crushing it lest it rise again. Therefore the rebuke of the just man is not to be despised, for it is the ruin of sin, the health of the heart, and moreover the way of God to the soul. But neither is any word at all which builds up toward piety, toward virtues, toward the best conduct, to be heard negligently; since in that too is "the way by which the salvation of God is shown" (Ps 50:23). But if the word comes welcome and pleasing, so that, with disgust driven away, it is heard with desire, then the Bridegroom is to be believed not only to come, but also to hasten, that is, to come with desire. For his desire creates your desire; and the reason you hasten to admit his word is that he himself hastens to enter; for "it was not we who loved him, but he himself," it says, "first loved us" (1 Jn 4:10). Now if you also feel the word to be fiery, and your conscience to be burned by it in the remembrance of sin; remember then of whom the Scripture says that "a fire shall go before him" (Ps 97:3), and do not doubt that he himself is near. For "the Lord is near to those who are of a troubled heart" (Ps 34:18).

But if in that word you are not only pricked with compunction, but also turned wholly to the Lord, swearing and resolving to keep the judgments of his justice, know that he is also already present, especially if you feel yourself burning with love of him. For you read both of him, that a fire indeed precedes him, and that he himself is no less a fire. For Moses says of him that "he is a consuming fire" (Deut 4:24). But they differ, in that the fire which is sent before has burning heat, but not love: it singes, but does not refine; it stirs, but does not advance. It is sent ahead only to arouse and prepare, and at the same time to remind you of what you are of yourself, so that what you will shortly be of God may taste all the sweeter afterward. But the fire which is God indeed consumes, but does not afflict; it burns sweetly, it lays waste blessedly. For it is truly a desolating coal, but one which so exercises the power of fire upon vices, that in the soul it performs the office of anointing. Therefore in the power by which you are changed, and in the love by which you are inflamed, understand the Lord to be present. For "the right hand of the Lord works power" (Ps 118:16). Moreover this change "of the right hand of the Most High" (Ps 77:10) does not happen except in fervor of spirit, and in charity unfeigned, so that he who is of this kind may say: "My heart grew hot within me, and in my meditation a fire shall burn" (Ps 39:3).

Moreover, when by this fire every stain of sin, and the rust of vices, has been consumed, if upon a cleansed and serene conscience there follows a certain sudden and unwonted enlargement of the mind, and an infusion of light illuminating the understanding either for the knowledge of the Scriptures, or for the awareness of mysteries, of which I believe the one is given for our delight, the other for the edification of our neighbors; that is without doubt the eye of the one looking upon you, bringing forth "as the light your justice, and your judgment as the noonday," according to that word of the prophet Isaiah: "Your light shall arise," he says, "as the sun" (Isa 58:10), etc. But assuredly not through open doors, but through narrow openings, will this ray of such great brightness pour itself in, while this ruinous wall of the body still stands. You err if you hope otherwise, to whatever degree of purity of heart you may advance, since that preeminent contemplator says: "We see now through a mirror and in an enigma, but then face to face" (1 Cor 13:12).

After this regard of such great condescension and mercy, there follows a voice gently and softly insinuating the divine will, which is nothing other than love itself, which cannot be idle, urging and persuading concerning the things that are of God. For the bride hears that she should arise and hasten, without doubt for the winning of souls. For this is what true and chaste contemplation has, that the mind which it has vehemently kindled with divine fire, it sometimes so fills with zeal and desire for winning for God those who would similarly love him, that it most willingly interrupts the leisure of contemplation for the zeal of preaching; and again, having obtained its desires, it returns all the more ardently to the same, inasmuch as it remembers itself to have interrupted more fruitfully; and in turn, having tasted contemplation, it runs back with greater strength and accustomed eagerness to pursue its gains. But amid these alternations the mind often fluctuates, fearing, and vehemently burning with anxiety, lest perhaps it cling to one of these more than is just, while it is pulled in different directions by its affections on this side and that; and so in either one deviate even slightly from the divine will. And perhaps holy Job was suffering something of this kind, when he said: "If I sleep, I say, when shall I arise? and again I shall wait for the evening" (Job 7:4): that is: Both at rest, I accuse myself of neglected work; and occupied, I accuse myself no less of disturbed rest. You see the holy man gravely distressed between the fruit of work and the sleep of contemplation: and although always engaged in good things, yet always as if doing penance for evils, and seeking the will of God with groaning at every moment. For the sole remedy and refuge in such matters is prayer, and frequent groaning to God; that he may deign continually to show us what, when, and to what extent he wills us to do. You have, as I think, these three things, that is, preaching, prayer, and contemplation, commended and designated in three words. For rightly is she called "love," who zealously and faithfully seeks the gains of the bridegroom by preaching, counseling, and ministering. Rightly "dove," who no less, groaning and supplicating in prayer for her own faults, does not cease to reconcile divine mercy to herself. Rightly also "beautiful one," who, shining with heavenly desire, puts on the beauty of supernal contemplation, at those hours, at least, when she can do so conveniently and opportunely.

But see also whether this can be fitted to this threefold good of one soul; concerning those three persons, namely, dwelling together in one house, friends surely of the Savior, and exceedingly familiar to him. I speak of Martha serving, and Mary at leisure, and Lazarus as if groaning under the stone, and pleading for the grace of resurrection (Lk 10:38-42; Jn 11). These things have been said on account of the fact that the bride is described as so skillful and watchful in observing the paths of the bridegroom, that it can in no way be hidden from her when, and with how great haste, he comes to her; but also when he is far, and when near, and when present, she cannot be taken by surprise so as to be unaware: and that for this reason she merited, not only to be looked upon mercifully, but also to be graciously gladdened by voices of love, and to rejoice with joy on account of the voice of the bridegroom.

We also have added to these things, though boldly, that any soul among us also, if it watches similarly, will similarly be greeted as a love, consoled as a dove, and embraced as a beautiful one. Everyone will be considered perfect in whose soul these three things are seen to come together fittingly and opportunely, so that he both knows how to groan for himself, and to exult in God, and at the same time is capable of serving the needs of his neighbors; pleasing to God, watchful over himself, useful to his own. But for these things who is sufficient? Would that these things themselves in all of us, if not all in each individual, yet at least each one in different persons, as they seem to be held today, may be preserved for a long time! For we have Martha, as a friend of the Savior, in those who faithfully administer external affairs. We have also Lazarus, as a groaning dove, namely the novices, who, having recently died to sins, still labor in their groaning under recent wounds with fear of judgment; and as the wounded sleeping in the tombs, of whom no one is mindful any longer, so they do not think themselves regarded, until at Christ's command, with the weight of fear removed, as if the burden of a pressing stone, they can breathe again into the hope of pardon. We have also Mary contemplating, in those who, by the progress of a longer time, with the grace of God cooperating, have been able to advance to something better and more joyful; when now, presuming upon forgiveness, they are not so anxious to turn over within themselves the sad image of their sins, as they are insatiably delighted to meditate in the law of God day and night; sometimes also with unveiled face beholding the glory of the bridegroom with ineffable joy, they are transformed into the same image from glory to glory, as by the Spirit of the Lord (2 Cor 3:18). Now to what end the bridegroom urges the bride to arise and hasten, he who a little before seemed to have defended her lest she be awakened while sleeping, we shall see in another sermon. May he himself be present, that he may deign to open for us the meaning of this mystery also, the Bridegroom of the Church, Jesus Christ our Lord, who is over all things God blessed forever. Amen.

"Arise, make haste, my friend, my dove, my beautiful one, and come" (Song 2:10). Who says this? Without doubt the Bridegroom. And is he not the one who a little before was so earnestly forbidding the beloved to be awakened? By what agreement then does he now command not only that she arise, but also that she hasten? Something similar from the Gospel comes to mind. For on that very night in which the Lord was betrayed, when he had at last commanded the disciples who were with him, fatigued by the prolonged vigils, to sleep and to rest, in that very hour he said: "Arise, let us go; behold, he who will betray me has drawn near" (Mt 26:46). Now likewise in almost one and the same moment he both forbids the bride to be awakened and awakens her, saying: "Arise and come." What then does so sudden a change of will or counsel mean? Do we suppose that the Bridegroom acted from levity, and willed something before which he shortly after did not will? Not at all. But recognize those alternations which I commended to you above, if you remember, and not once only, alternations namely of holy repose and necessary action; and that in this life there is no abundance of contemplating nor length of leisure, where the more pressing and more urgent usefulness of duty and work presses upon us. After his custom, therefore, when the Bridegroom perceives that the beloved has rested a little in his own bosom, he does not delay to draw her again to those things which seemed more useful. Not however as though she were unwilling: for what he forbade to be done, he himself would by no means do. But for the bride to be drawn by the Bridegroom is to receive from him the desire by which she is drawn, the desire for good works, the desire to bear fruit for the Bridegroom; since for her to live is the Bridegroom, and to die is gain.

And this is a vehement desire, which urges her not only to arise but also to arise hastily: for thus you have it: "Arise, make haste, and come." And it comforts her not a little that she hears "come" and not "go": understanding by this that she is not so much sent as led, and that the Bridegroom would come equally with her. For what would she reckon difficult with him as companion? "Set me," she says, "beside you, and let the hand of whomever fight against me" (Job 17:3); likewise: "If I shall walk in the midst of the shadow of death, I will not fear evils, for you are with me" (Ps 22:4). She is therefore not awakened against her will, since it is first brought about that she wills: which is nothing other than an infused eagerness for holy gain. She is also animated toward the enjoined work, and is rendered more eager by the opportunity of the time. "It is the time for doing," he says, "O bride, because the winter has passed, when no one could work. The rain also, which having made a flood covered the earth, impeded cultivation, and either destroyed what had been sown or prevented sowing; this rain, I say, has run off, has departed and receded; flowers have appeared in our land, signifying indeed that the springtime mildness is at hand, the convenience for working, the nearness of crops and fruits." Then he adds where and what must first be worked: "The time of pruning has arrived" (Song 2:11-12). She is led therefore to cultivating the vineyards: which, in order that they may repay the vine-dressers with more abundant fruits, it is above all necessary that the sterile branches be cast off, the noxious ones cut down, the superfluous ones pruned. These things according to the letter.