Homilies on the Song of Songs, Homilia II
Love created good; transfer desire; husbands love as Christ§1
1God the Creator of the universe made all the motions of the soul for good; yet it often happens, by our use of them, that things good by nature, when we misuse them, lead us into sins. One of the soul’s motions is love: we use it well for loving when we love wisdom and truth; but when our love falls toward what is worse, we love flesh and blood. You then, as a spiritual person, hear spiritually these amorous words being sung, and learn to transfer the motion of your soul and the fire of natural love toward better things, according to that saying: Love her, and she will keep you; embrace her, and she will exalt you. Husbands, love your wives, says the Apostle — yet he did not stop at what he had said: Husbands, love your wives. Knowing that love of wives can become even among wives themselves something unseemly, he taught how husbands ought to love their wives, adding: Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church. And this we have said by way of preface to what must be treated afterward.
Latin · §1
Omnes animae motus universitatis conditor Deus creavit ad bonum, sed pro usu nostro fit saepe, ut res, quae bonae sunt per naturam, dum male eis abutimur, nos ad peccata perducant. Unus de animae motibus amor est, quo bene utimur ad amandum, si sapientiam amemus et veritatem; quando vero amor noster in peiora corruerit, amamus carnem et sanguinem. Tu igitur, ut spiritalis, audi spiritaliter amatoria verba cantari et disce motum animae tuae et naturalis amoris incendium ad meliora transferre secundum illud: Ama illam, et servabit te; circumda illam, et exaltabit te. Viri, diligite uxores vestras, ait Apostolus, sed non stetit in eo quod dixerat: Viri, diligite uxores vestras; sciens enim posse dilectionem uxorum in ipsis quoque uxoribus inhonestam fieri, docuit quomodo viri uxores suas amare deberent, inferens: Viri, diligite uxores vestras, sicut et Christus dilexit ecclesiam. Et haec quidem in prooemio eorum quae postea disserenda sunt diximus.
While the king is on his couch; my nard; Mary’s ointment§2
2But because the Bridegroom’s friends, while the king is on his couch — for resting he slept like a lion and like a lion’s cub — had promised the Bride that until he rose they would make likenesses of gold and silver, not having gold as the Bridegroom has, and because in a certain way the Bridegroom’s passion was preached in other words, the Bride answers these things not unreasonably. Understanding herself a certain dispensation of the passion in what she had heard — We will make likenesses of gold for you with stamps of silver, until the king is on his couch — she says: My nard gave its fragrance. My brother is a bundle of myrrh to me; he shall linger between my breasts. How then shall we fit to what went before — until the king is on his couch — what follows: My nard gave its fragrance?
The Gospel says that a woman came having an alabaster flask of ointment of pure nard, very costly — not that sinner, but the holy woman of whom my speech is now. I know that Luke spoke of a sinner, but Matthew and John and Mark did not speak of a sinner. So there came not that sinner, but a holy woman, whose name also John inserts — for it was Mary — and having an alabaster flask of costly pure ointment she poured it on Jesus’ head. Then, when not all the disciples were indignant over this, but Judas alone, saying: It could have been sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor, our Master and Savior answered: You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me. If then you too take an alabaster flask of ointment of pure costly nard and pour a sweet fragrance over the head of the Lord Jesus, you may boldly say: My nard gave its fragrance. If you are righteous, your works are nard. But if you sin, your sins stink with a foul odor.
Latin · §2
Quia vero amici sponsi, dum rex in recubitu suo est — requiescens enim dormivit ut leo et ut catulus leonis — sponsae promiserant, donec ille consurgeret, se similitudines auri et argenti esse facturos, non habentes aurum ut sponsus, et quodammodo aliis verbis sponsi passio praedicata est, non irrationabiliter ad haec sponsa respondet. Et ipsa dispensationem quandam passionis intellegens ad id quod audierat: Similitudines auri faciemus tibi cum stigmatibus argenti, donec rex in recubitu suo est, ait: Nardus mea dedit odorem suum. Fasciculus guttae fratruelis meus mihi; inter ubera mea commorabitur. Quomodo igitur aptabimus ei quod praecessit: donec rex in recubitu suo, id quod sequitur: Nardus mea dedit odorem suum? Evangelium loquitur quia venit mulier habens alabastrum unguenti nardi pistici pretiosi — non illa peccatrix, sed sancta, de qua nunc mihi sermo est. Scio quippe Lucam de peccatrice, Matthaeum vero et Iohannem et Marcum non de peccatrice dixisse. Venit ergo non peccatrix illa, sed sancta, cuius nomen quoque Iohannes inseruit — Maria quippe erat — et habens alabastrum unguenti pistici pretiosi effudit super caput Iesu. Deinde super hoc indignatis non omnibus discipulis, sed Iuda solo et dicente: Potuit venumdari denariis trecentis et dari pauperibus, respondit magister noster atque Salvator: Semper pauperes habetis vobiscum, me vero non semper habebitis. Si igitur et tu adsumpseris alabastrum unguenti nardi pistici pretiosi et super caput Domini Iesu suavi odore perfuderis, possis audenter effari: Nardus mea dedit odorem suum. Si iustus fueris, opera tua nardus sunt. Si vero peccaveris, peccata tua taetro odore foetent.
A bundle of myrrh between my breasts§3
3A bundle of myrrh — that is, of drop or droplet — is my brother to me. We read in Exodus of drop, onycha, cassia, galbanum compounded into incense by God’s command. But let us know that stacte is a precious ointment. She calls her brother a bundle of myrrh, because the whole Christ, the whole Word of God, is ointment and fragrance. He shall linger between my breasts: in the breast and in the ruling part of the heart let Christ’s meaning and memory rest.
Latin · §3
Fasciculus stactes — id est guttae sive stillae — fratruelis meus mihi. Guttam, unguem, casiam, galbanum in Exodo legimus praecepto Dei in thymiama compositum. Stacten vero unguentum pretiosum esse noverimus. Fasciculum ergo stactes fratruelem suum dicit, quia totus Christus, totus Dei Sermo, unguentum est et fragrantia. Inter ubera mea commorabitur: in pectore et in principali cordis Christi sensus et memoria requiescat.
Behold you are fair; dove’s eyes; our couch is shaded§4
4Again the Bridegroom’s speech is directed to her, and he says: Behold, you are fair, my neighbor; behold, you are fair; your eyes are doves. She says to the Bridegroom: Behold, you are fair, my brother, and graceful. Our couch is shaded; the beams of our houses are cedar, our paneling cypress. We must consider how both Bridegroom and Bride are called fair. The Bridegroom is fair according to divinity; the Bride fair according to way of life and virtues. Her eyes are called doves’ because the Holy Spirit descended in the form of a dove, and those who see spiritually look with dove-like eyes. The shaded couch: a soul strewn with flowers of virtues receives Christ. Cedar and cypress: incorruptible woods, because faith and hope and love do not rot.
Latin · §4
Rursum sponsi ad eam sermo dirigitur et dicit: Ecce es speciosa, proxima mea; ecce es speciosa; oculi tui columbae. Illa dicit ad sponsum: Ecce es speciosus, fratruelis meus, et decorus. Lectulus noster floridus; tigna domorum nostrarum cedrina, laquearia nostra cypressina. Considerandum quomodo et sponsus et sponsa speciosa esse dicantur. Sponsus speciosus est secundum divinitatem; sponsa speciosa secundum conversationem et virtutes. Oculi eius columbae dicuntur, quia Spiritus sanctus in specie columbae descendit, et qui spiritaliter vident, columbinis oculis intuentur. Lectulus floridus: anima floribus virtutum strata Christum suscipit. Cedrina et cypressina: incorruptibilia ligna, quia fides et spes et caritas non putrescunt.
The beams of our house are cedar§5
5The beams of our houses are cedar. These are words of the many. They seem to me to be spoken by the men who are with the Bridegroom, of whom speech was made above. Our house — that is, the church — is upheld by cedar beams, because cedar is incorruptible, and the teaching of apostles and prophets holds the church without decay.
Latin · §5
Trabes domorum nostrarum cedri. Haec multitudinis verba sunt. Videntur autem mihi viri hoc dicere qui cum sponso sunt, de quibus superius sermo praefatus est. Domus nostra, id est ecclesia, trabibus cedrinis fulcitur, quia cedrus imputribilis est, et doctrina apostolorum et prophetarum imputribiliter ecclesiam continet.
I am the flower of the field and the lily of the valleys§6
6After this the Bridegroom speaks: I am the flower of the field and the lily of the valleys. For my sake, who was in the valley, he came down into the valley and became a lily of the valleys. As a lily among thorns, so is my neighbor among the daughters. I indeed am the flower of the field; but you, church, are a lily among thorns — among those who prick and afflict. Christ is the flower of the field, who appeared openly in the world; the lily of the valleys, because he offered himself to the lowly.
Latin · §6
Post haec sponsus loquitur: Ego flos campi et lilium convallium. Propter me, qui in valle eram, descendit in vallem et factus est lilium convallium. Sicut lilium inter spinas, sic proxima mea inter filias. Ego quidem flos campi; tu vero, ecclesia, lilium inter spinas — inter eos qui pungunt et tribulant. Flos campi Christus, qui in mundo patuit; lilium convallium, quia humilibus se praebuit.
Bring me into the house of wine§7
7Bring me into the house of wine. The Bridegroom stood outside and was received by the Bride; for he rested in the midst of her breasts. Many young women are not of such sort that they alone may bring him in; therefore it is said: Bring me into the house of wine — speaking to many. The house of wine is the church, in which the cup of the New Testament is drunk. Order love in me: not only love, but order love.
Latin · §7
Introducite me in domum vini. Foris stetit sponsus et ab sponsa susceptus est; in medio quippe uberum eius requievit. Plurimae iuveneculae non sunt istiusmodi, ut sola introducant; ideo dicitur: Introducite me in domum vini — pluribus loquens. Domus vini ecclesia est, in qua calix Novi Testamenti bibitur. Ordinate caritatem in me: non solum amate, sed ordinate amorem.
Order love in me§8
8Order love in me. He has spoken elegantly: order; for with many, love is disordered. What they ought to love in the first place, they love in the second; what in the second, in the first. God is first to be loved with the whole heart; then the neighbor. Whoever loves children more than Christ loves with disordered love. Whoever loves parents more than the Word loves out of order. Whoever loves a wife more than the Bridegroom of the soul loves with disturbed order. Therefore order love in me: first God, then the things that are God’s.
Latin · §8
Ordinate in me caritatem. Eleganter locutus est: ordinate; plurimorum quippe inordinata est caritas. Quod in primo loco debent diligere, diligunt in secundo; quod in secundo, in primo. Deus primus amandus est ex toto corde; deinde proximus. Qui filios plus quam Christum amat, inordinata caritate amat. Qui parentes plus quam Verbum, inordinate diligit. Qui uxorem plus quam sponsum animae, perturbato ordine amat. Ordinate ergo in me caritatem: primum Deum, deinde quae Dei sunt.
His left hand under my head; his right hand embraces me§9
9His left hand is under my head, and his right hand will embrace me. The Word of God has both a left hand and a right. Wisdom, when she offers herself according to the variety of understanding, is called now left, now right. The left is care for temporal and bodily things; the right is the gift of eternal and spiritual things. The left under the head: lest the mind wander about temporal things, but be subject. The right embraces: it clasps and keeps eternal things.
Latin · §9
Sinistra eius sub capite meo, et dextera eius complexabitur me. Habet et sinistram et dexteram Sermo Dei. Sapientia, cum pro intellectus varietate se praebet, nunc sinistra, nunc dextera dicitur. Sinistra temporalium et corporalium cura; dextera aeternorum et spiritalium donatio. Sub capite sinistra: ne mens circa temporalia evagetur, sed subiecta sit. Dextera complexatur: aeterna amplectitur et custodit.
I adjure you; the voice of my brother leaping on the mountains§10
10I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem, if you find my brother, what will you tell him? That I am sick with love. The voice of my brother; behold, he comes leaping on the mountains, springing over the hills. The church still speaks, exhorting the daughters of Jerusalem. Love becomes a sickness when desire for the Bridegroom delays. Then she hears the voice: Behold, he comes leaping on the mountains — swiftly, powerfully, running through prophets and apostles as through mountains and hills.
Latin · §10
Adiuro vos, filiae Hierusalem, si inveneritis fratruelem meum, quid nuntietis ei? Quia amore langueo. Vox fratruelis mei; ecce iste venit saliens in montibus, transiliens colles. Haec adhuc loquitur ecclesia exhortans filias Hierusalem. Amor languor fit, quando desiderium sponsi tardat. Deinde audit vocem: Ecce venit saliens in montibus — cito, potenter, per prophetas et apostolos quasi per montes et colles currens.
My brother is like a gazelle on the mountains of Bethel§11
11My brother is like a gazelle and like a young stag on the mountains of Bethel. These two animals are named rather often in the Scriptures, and the more they are to be wondered at, the more they signify the Lord. The gazelle sees most sharply; the young stag crosses the mountains with a swift leap. Christ both sees hidden things sharply and, with a swift leap, came down from heaven to earth and ascended from earth to heaven. The mountains of Bethel — Bethel is interpreted house of God — understand as the prophets and apostles, in whom God dwells.
Latin · §11
Similis est fratruelis meus capreae hinnuloque cervorum in montibus Bethel. Haec duo animalia in scripturis saepius nominantur, et quo magis admiranda sunt, eo magis Dominum significant. Caprea acutissime videt; hinnulus cervorum saltu celeri montes transit. Christus et acute videt occultorum et saltu celeri de caelo in terras descendit et de terris ad caelum ascendit. Montes Bethel — Bethel interpretatur domus Dei — prophetas et apostolos intellege, in quibus habitat Deus.
Like a gazelle on the mountains of God’s house; winter is past§12
12My brother is like a gazelle or a young stag on the mountains of the house of God. For Bethel is interpreted house of God. Not all mountains are the house of God; there are proud and sheer mountains, of which it is said: Why do you contend, you curdled mountains?. But the mountains of the Lord are the prophets and apostles. The gazelle and young stag move among these mountains, because Christ is known in the prophets and apostles. Arise, make haste, my neighbor, my fair one, my dove. For now the winter is past; the rain is over and gone; the flowers have appeared in the land; the time of pruning has come; the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land. The fig tree has put forth its green figs; the flowering vines have given their fragrance. Arise, make haste, my neighbor. Why arise? Because the winter of the passion is past, because the rain of temptations is gone, because the flowers of the resurrection have appeared, because the voice of the Holy Spirit — the turtledove — has been heard in the church.
Latin · §12
Similis est fratruelis meus capreae vel hinnulo cervorum super montes domus Dei. Bethel quippe domus Dei interpretatur. Non omnes montes domus Dei sunt; sunt montes superbientes et praerupti, de quibus dicitur: Quare contenditis, montes coagulati? Montes autem Domini prophetae et apostoli sunt. Caprea et hinnulus in his montibus versantur, quia Christus in prophetis et apostolis cognoscitur. Surge, propera, proxima mea, speciosa mea, columba mea. Iam hiems transiit; imber abiit et recessit; flores apparuerunt in terra; tempus putationis advenit; vox turturis audita est in terra nostra. Ficus protulit grossos suos; vineae florentes dederunt odorem. Surge, propera, proxima mea. Quare surge? Quia hiems passionis transiit, quia imber temptationum abiit, quia flores resurrectionis apparuerunt, quia vox Spiritus sancti — turturis — in ecclesia audita est.
Arise, come; show me your face — Homilia II CLOSEOUT§13
13Arise, come, my neighbor, my fair one, my dove! Show me your face; let your voice sound in my ears. For your voice is sweet, and your face is fair. The dove signifies a soul that is simple and fitted to the Holy Spirit. Show your face: make contemplation plain. Let your voice sound: preach and confess. A sweet voice and a fair face: sweet teaching and a beautiful way of life. These things are said by the Bridegroom to the Bride at the end of the second Homily, so that the church may be called to seeing and hearing and preaching — to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
Latin · §13
Surge, veni, proxima mea, speciosa mea, columba mea! Ostende mihi faciem tuam; sonet vox tua in auribus meis. Vox enim tua suavis, et facies tua speciosa. Columba simplicem et Spiritui sancto congruentem animam significat. Ostende faciem: manifesta contemplationem. Sonet vox: praedica et confitere. Vox suavis et facies speciosa: doctrina dulcis et conversatio pulchra. Haec in fine Homiliae secundae a sponso sponsae dicuntur, ut ecclesia ad videndum et audiendum et praedicandum provocetur — cui gloria in saecula saeculorum. Amen.