IN CANTICA CANTICORUM

• 639A

That the blessed Alcuin wrote a brief commentary on the Song of Songs, the very writer of his Life attests in express words: « On the Proverbs of Solomon, he says, and on Ecclesiastes, and on the Song of Songs (he wrote) with lucid brevity. » The same thing several manuscript codices confirm, in which certain diligent librarians give assurance that a similar commentary is contained under the name of Alcuin. Thus in the catalogue of the manuscripts of the Harleian collection, vol. I, is noted codex 212, on parchment, in quarto, containing as no. 2 a Commentary of Alcuin on the Song of Songs, which at folio 100 b takes its beginning from these words: Here begins the book of the Song of Songs, that is, the better things of those who make better, as the Holy of Holies. Similarly in the catalogue of the manuscripts of England and Ireland, edited at Oxford in 1679 in folio, among the manuscript codices of the Jacobean library, no. 8676 is listed, Albinus's Commentary on the Song of Songs. In the San-Lorenzo library at Liège of the Order of St. Benedict there exists: Alcuin or Albinus on Ecclesiastes and the Song of Songs. 639BThe most distinguished and likewise most celebrated Montfaucon, in volumes I and II of the Bibliotheca bibliothecarum, lists with the utmost fidelity several codices containing the same commentary; in vol. I, p. 628, he writes: « In the library of the king of England: Alcuin on the Canticle. » Vol. II, p. 1202: In the library of Jumièges: Alcuin's Exposition on the Song of Songs. » P. 1222: « In the library of Saint-Aubin of Angers: Alcuin's Exposition on the Song of Songs. » P. 1239: « In the library of the monastery of Saint-Ouen of Rouen: Alcuin on the Song of Songs. » P. 1253: « In the library of the monastery of the Blessed Virgin of Bec: A Brief Exposition on the Song of Songs, under the name of the Church and the Synagogue. It is by Alcuin the abbot, as is there noted. » P. 1284: « In the library of Saint-Bénigne of Dijon: Albinus's Exposition of the Song 640Aof Songs. » P. 1342: « In the library of the abbey of Savigny of the Cistercian Order: Alcuin on the Song of Songs. » P. 1361: « In the library of the monastery of Saint-Michel in-peril-of-the-sea: Alcuin's Exposition on Genesis, on the Song of Songs. » Finally, in the Oxford-Cambridge Ecloga, or catalogue of the manuscripts of England, there is attributed to Alcuin a Compendium on the Song of Songs, which is perhaps the same as the Compendium edited by the distinguished Patrick Young, which we here present.

To this trustworthiness of the manuscript codices the most celebrated writers add weight: Helinand, in Vincent of Beauvais, Book XXIII of the Speculum Historiale, chapter 173; Trithemius, in his book On Ecclesiastical Writers and in Book II of On the Illustrious Men of the Order of St. Benedict, chapter 26; John Bale, Century II of the Writers of Britain; Conrad Lycosthenes in the Epitome of the Bibliotheca of Conrad Gesner; Possevino in the Apparatus sacer, vol. I.

It is astonishing that the learned writers of the Histoire littéraire de la France disregarded these testimonies which we have set forth, and denied that any complete commentary on the Song of Songs flowed from Alcuin's pen, and [claimed] that 640Ball his labor upon the aforesaid book consisted in the exposition of a single little verse — the 6th of chapter VI — contained in the letter to Daphnis his disciple, to be presented at the end of this little work. For the testimonies adduced by no means admit this interpretation — testimonies which speak not of the exposition of only a single portion or verse of the Song of Songs, but of a commentary on the Song of Songs, that is, on this entire book. These same men, elsewhere most learned, are still more mistaken when they very confidently assert, in the place cited, p. 336, that that Compendium on the Song of Songs, which in the year 1638 was edited at London by Patrick Young together with the commentaries of Gilbert Foliot, is nothing other than the same letter to Daphnis. For this headlong judgment is refuted merely 641Aby the sight of that edition, of which indeed the aforesaid men — otherwise truly excellent — had no copy at hand.

It ought therefore to be certain, at least by historical faith, that our Alcuin expounded not merely some portion, but the entire book of the Song of Songs in a brief style — or, as the writer of his Life puts it, with lucid brevity. It now remains to be inquired whether this Compendium, which we present from the London edition prepared by Patrick Young, is that very labor which Alcuin bestowed in expounding that book. In Alcuin's favor fights the authority of the distinguished Patrick Young, the royal librarian and a diligent searcher of ancient monuments, who first brought that Compendium forth into public, under the name of Alcuin, without hesitation, from the royal library; which he would rightly be presumed not to have done had he not been supported by the trustworthiness of a certain 392 manuscript codex, free of all suspicion of novelty or corruption. To this authority the manuscript codex 69 of the royal Vatican library adds strength — in octavo, written in the 10th century — a copy of which was furnished me by 641Bthe eminent lord Cardinal Passionei, then prefect of that library, one to be celebrated with the highest praises in the republic of letters even after his death: in which codex the same Compendium — with a few changes, which we note — is included among the letters of Alcuin, though indeed without a name prefixed. Finally, the style in which this commentary is written is by no means at variance with the style of Alcuin, although in his commentaries — where for the most part, after the manner of that age, the opinions of the earlier Fathers are culled — he does not keep a constant character, as he does in the letters written out of his own genius.

And these foundations will seem to no one not sufficiently firm, so that this Compendium of the exposition of the Song of Songs may be attributed to Alcuin, as its true author, without danger of delusion. I confess indeed that a certain doubt about the true author of this commentary was cast upon me when, in perusing the Stromata on the Song of Songs of Angelomus, abbot of Luxeuil — in vol. XV of the Bibliotheca of the Holy Fathers, Lyons edition, p. 415 and 641Cfollowing — I found that this our Exposition was there contained for the greatest part, as to its opinions and even its very words. But observing that Angelomus borrowed almost everything he commented upon, whether on the books of Kings or on the Song of Songs, from the sayings of other teachers and expositors, and learned it from a most eloquent master (perhaps Alcuin himself) by lending an attentive ear, just as he himself professes in the apologetic preface to the books of Kings; considering besides that Angelomus took also the beginning of his commentary on the Song of Songs, from those words: The Scriptures most manifestly teach that Solomon was called by three names, etc., from the beginning of Alcuin's commentary on Ecclesiastes, I easily shook off the doubt previously conceived; so that I now by no means doubt that those things which in Angelomus's commentary agree with this Compendium were likewise borrowed from the same source; and nothing hinders me from judging Alcuin the true author of this Compendium on the Song of Songs; 641Drelying, that is, upon the testimony of the writers cited above, and upon the trustworthiness of several manuscript codices — above all the Vatican one, which I here use, and the English one, which the most celebrated lord Patrick Young used.

This book Solomon sang with wondrous sweetness, 642Awhich holds the excellent songs of Bridegroom and Bride, singing on this side and that the praises of the Church and of Christ; and it recalls the faithful companions, men and women, of the bridal chamber. These things, I pray, young man, remember to commit to your mind: these songs are far better than false Maro's. These sing to you the true precepts of everlasting life; that other will sound ill in your ears, things frivolous and witty [ F., falsa].

VERSE 1.-- Let him kiss me with the kiss of his mouth. The Synagogue longs for God to be made incarnate, and with devoted love runs to meet him at his coming. Her voice sounds first in the Song of love; and when the holy prophets frequently showed her the way of living, and pointed out his coming — he who, like a Bridegroom going forth from the bridal chamber, would enrich 642Bthe world with a new blessing — then, the voices of the heralds being past, she began to long for the presence of the King and Savior himself, saying: Let him kiss me with the kiss of his mouth; which is to say: let him not always appoint angels to instruct me, nor prophets; let him at last come himself, who has been promised so long; let him enlighten me with the light of his presence, and, as if bestowing a kiss, addressing me with his own mouth, let him strengthen me — that is, let him not scorn to instruct me when I ask about the way of salvation. And this is read to have been fulfilled in the Gospel: While Jesus sat on the mountain, his disciples came to him. And opening his mouth he taught them, saying: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Matth. V, 1) . So she says: Let him kiss me with the kiss of his mouth. That is, let him touch me with the sweetness of his presence, which I have often heard promised by the prophets.

642C393 For thy breasts are better than wine. The sweetness of gospel teaching is better than the austerity of the law. By wine he means the ardor of legal knowledge; by milk he means the rudiments of gospel faith. Whence Paul: I gave you milk to drink (I Cor. III, 2) , that is, food. The breasts of the Bridegroom are better than wine, because whomever the rudiments of faith regenerate from water and spirit, they lead forth with the entrance to the heavenly life laid open — which the long observance of the law was not able to do, as the Apostle witnesses, since he says: The law brought nothing to perfection (Hebr. VII, 19) . By the breasts are understood the teachers, who give us the milk of knowledge to drink.

VERSE 2.-- Fragrant with the best ointments. The Holy Spirit is compared to ointments for this reason: because as ointment heals a wound, so the Holy Spirit drives out 642Dvices, cherishes and heals souls. Good were the ointments with which the prophets and priests were anointed under the law, but better are those with which the apostles and their successors have been anointed invisibly; of whom Paul says: And it is God who anointed us, and God who sealed us (II Cor. I, 21) . And John: Let the anointing which you have received from him remain in you (I Joan. II, 27) . Thy name is oil poured 643Aout. It is the giving of a reason; for it is no wonder if his members are fragrant with ointments, since he himself took his name from ointment. Christ [is named] from chrism, that is, the Anointed from anointing; and this name, with the grace of the Holy Spirit, is poured out in baptism upon all the faithful. Whence Peter: How God anointed him with the Holy Spirit and with power (Act. X, 38) . And in the Psalms: God has anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows (Psal. XLV, 7) . He says oil: not dripped, but poured out; for God does not give him the Spirit by measure, since he himself is full of the Holy Spirit. Therefore the young maidens have loved thee. That is, the souls of the elect, renewed by the grace of baptism.

VERSE 3.-- Draw me after thee. The Synagogue at first begged that God would come and offer her the kiss of peace; 643Bnow the Church, knowing that he has already come and already returned to the heavens, longs to be able to follow him. And because she cannot accomplish this by herself, she implores the leading of him to whom she desires to come. Draw me after thee. That is: because without thee we can do nothing, we pray that thou uphold with the right hand of thy protection us who run to thee. For we cannot run, or finish the course, unless we run with thee as leader and helper. Whence Paul: I have labored more than all of them, yet not I, but the grace of Christ (I Cor. XV, 10) . We will run together in the fragrance of thy ointments. That is, by the increase of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, working well together with thee, let us hasten to the fellowship of the heavenly Jerusalem, that we may follow thee ascending into heaven. The King has brought me into his storerooms. That is, into the eternal 643Cjoys of the heavenly homeland. The storerooms of the eternal King are the joys of the heavenly homeland, into which the Church is now brought by faith, to be brought more fully by the reality. We will exult and rejoice in thee, mindful of thy breasts above wine. In thee, not in ourselves, mindful in all things of the grace of faith above the doctrine of the law; which is to say: in no way do we exalt ourselves for what we have received, but in all that we live well we will exult in thy mercy, mindful with how great tenderness thou hast deigned to renew us, and how thou hast deigned to soften the austerity of the law by the grace of gospel faith. The upright love thee. No one loves thee but the upright; and no one is upright but he who loves thee.

VERSE 4.-- I am black, but comely, O daughters of Jerusalem. 643DI am black in the pressures of persecutions, but comely in the beauty of virtues. That is: I appear black indeed in the eyes of my persecutors, but before God I shine, adorned with the beauty of virtues. As the tents of Kedar [Cod. Vat., Cedar], as the skin of Solomon. Kedar was the son of Ishmael, which 394 is interpreted 644A"darkness." The holy Church says she is black like Kedar, because by the afflictions of unbelievers she has been so darkened, as though she had become the enemy of the whole world. Solomon was peaceable both in name and in life, who made himself tents from the skins of dead animals; so the Lord creates for himself the Church out of those animals which mortify in themselves the desires of the flesh; therefore the Church is like the skin of Solomon.

VERSE 5.-- Do not regard me, that I am dark, because the sun has discolored me. That is: do not wonder if I am despised by men, because the heat of excessive persecution, or the love of Christ, has discolored me. The sons of my mother fought against me: they set me as keeper in the vineyards; my own vineyard I have not kept. The bitterness of the persecution of the sons of the Synagogue made me not keep 644Bmy vineyard at Jerusalem, but [to be] the keeper of many vineyards, that is, of Churches, throughout the world. The mother of the primitive Church is the Synagogue, to whom it is said through the prophet: Zion, thou shalt be called a city, and the mother of cities (Zach. VIII, 3) .

VERSE 6.-- Show me, O thou whom my soul loves, where thou feedest, where thou liest at noon, lest I begin to wander after the flocks of thy companions. Show me my shepherd, whom I love with my whole soul, and in what places he has his pastures [ Cod. Vat., pascuam] and rest, lest, troubled by the heat of temptations, I begin to seek him after the little assemblies of his companions, that is, of the heretics.

VERSE 7.-- If thou knowest not thyself, O fairest [Cod. Vat., pulchra] among women, go forth and go away after 644Cthe tracks of the flocks. If thou knowest not that thou art betrothed to me under the dominion [ F., conditione] of such a temptation, go forth from my fellowship, and follow the various deeds of those who go astray. And feed my kids beside the tents of the shepherds. That is, nourish the lost hearers who, having followed the teachings of foolish masters, will stand at the left hand.

VERSE 8.-- To my cavalry among the chariots of Pharaoh have I likened thee, my love. As I freed the former people from the fear of Egypt, so thee, my bride!, if thou trust in me, I will free from the hands of thy persecutors.

VERSE 9.-- Thy cheeks are beautiful as a turtledove's [Cod. Vat., turris ]. I have adorned thee with such great virtue of saving modesty, that thou mayest not corrupt, by any seduction of wicked teachers, 644Dthe chastity of the faith promised to me. Thy neck is as jewels. By the neck are signified the holy preachers, who show by works what they teach by word: by the jewels is expressed the perfection of their work.

VERSE 10.-- We will make thee little chains of gold, inlaid 645Awith silver. By the little chains Holy Scripture is shown, which shines inwardly with the gold of spiritual meanings, and gleams with the silver of heavenly eloquence.

VERSE 11.-- While the King was on his couch, my spikenard gave forth its odor. While Christ the King rests in the blessedness of the heavenly secret [ Cod. Vat., Regi . . . quiescenti], the virtue of the saints in the Church ministers to us the grace of a great sweetness.

VERSE 12.-- A little bundle of myrrh is my beloved to me; he shall abide between my breasts. The death of my beloved, which he underwent for my salvation, shall always abide in my memory.

VERSE 13.-- A cluster of cypress is my beloved to me, in the vineyards of Engaddi. He who [ Edit., quid] was a little bundle of myrrh in the bitterness of the passion is himself a cluster of cypress in 645Bthe sweetness of the resurrection. Myrrh saddens, wine gladdens. In the vineyards of Engaddi, because of the divine graces which after the resurrection he bestowed in baptism upon those who share in him. Engaddi, "the fountain of the kid," signifies baptism.

VERSE 14.-- Behold, thou art fair, my love, behold, thou art fair. Thou art fair in clean works, in which thou dost live soberly in this world. Thou art fair in simplicity of heart, because for the sole aim of eternity thou dost persist in good deeds. Thine eyes are 395 doves'. The eyes of thy heart are clean and simple, and free from all duplicity of deceiving; or, thy senses are endowed with spiritual understanding.

VERSE 15.-- Behold, thou art fair, my beloved [Cod. Vat., mi], and comely. The holy Church, hearing that a twofold 645Cbeauty has been attributed to her by the Lord — namely of work and of intention, with the simplicity of a pure heart — answers with devoted voice: Whatever of beauty, grace, simplicity, hope I have, I have received by thy bounty; but thou art truly and beyond comparison fair, and comely by the perpetuity of thy divine nature, and by the wondrous dignity of the humanity thou hast assumed. Our little bed is flowering. The bride rests with the bridegroom in the little bed, when in a flowering time of peace the peace of the holy Church both flourishes with holy virtues and is multiplied with spiritual offspring.

VERSE 16.-- The beams of our houses are of cedar, our paneled ceilings of cypress. The beams and paneled ceilings signify the teachers of the holy Church, for their protection [ Cod. Vat., munimentum] and adornment; of cedar and of cypress 645Dfor their outstanding virtues and the fragrance of a good life. By whose word and example the Church is sustained, lest she be shaken apart by heretical depravity. The odor of cedar puts serpents to flight, which suits those who by the power of the heavenly word are wont to root out the poisoned dogmas of the heretics. The cypress, which lays down the beauty of its foliage at no impulse of the winds, expresses the constancy of those who adorn the holy Church, like paneled ceilings, with the higher ornaments of virtues.

• 646A

VERSE 1.-- I am the flower of the field and the lily of the valleys. I am the glory of the world, and the lily of the valleys. [ Cod. Vat., Ego decus mundi et gloria humilium.]

VERSE 2.-- As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters. Thou seekest rest and the praises of the couch. Remember that thou art made whiter by the stings of tribulations; and the fruit of preaching [ F., persecutionis] is greater than that of quiet.

VERSE 3.-- As the apple tree among the trees of the woods, so is my beloved among the sons. As the apple tree surpasses the woodland trees in sight, odor, and taste, so Christ excels all the saints [ Cod. Vat., omnibus sanctis] who are called sons of God by [ Cod. Vat., sed] grace, he alone by nature. Under the shadow of him whom I had desired, I sat. 646BWith him protecting me, whom I always sought to have present, I rest, and remain secure. And his fruit is sweet to my throat. Because with the heavenly sweetness of his grace he refreshes [ Cod. Vat., refecit] me.

VERSE 4.-- The King brought me into the wine cellar. By the wine cellar the Church ought to be understood, in whose unity alone the Holy Spirit is wont to be given and received, whose grace in this place is designated by the name of wine. He set charity in order within me — in which cellar charity is ordered, that each may love God with the whole heart, more than himself; his neighbor as himself.

VERSE 5.-- Support me with flowers, surround me with apples, for I languish with love. Console me with the examples either of those who are beginning, or of those who are finishing. Show me the way of salvation, while as yet in the weariness of this pilgrimage 646CI languish with love of the heavenly vision.

VERSE 6.-- His left hand is under my head, and his right hand shall embrace me. By the left hand of Christ his temporal gifts are signified, by the right hand the blessedness of everlasting life, because here he strengthens the mind through hope, and there he glorifies it through reward.

VERSE 7.-- I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes and the harts of the fields, that you stir not up, nor make to awake, my beloved, until she herself please. I call to witness the peaceable souls of the faithful, by their every [ Cod. Vat., quasque] virtue, which are signified by the clean and ruminant 396 animals, that they hinder not by any importunity the devout pursuits of the brethren; but that each so rejoice in the progress of his neighbors as in his own. By the roes and harts are signified the works of the virtues, 646Dwhich, as much as they excel in cleanness, so much are they wont to despise, nay to destroy, the violent snares of the ancient enemy. The roe climbs the mountain, has keenness of sight, chooses the better pastures.

VERSE 8.-- The voice of my beloved. It is understood: this is [the voice] which I heard adjuring the daughters of Jerusalem, that they should not stir me up as I rested in his embrace. Behold, he comes leaping upon the mountains, bounding over the hills. For such were the leaps my beloved made: from heaven he came into the womb, 647Afrom the womb into the manger, from the manger to the cross, from the cross to the tomb, from the tomb he returned to heaven. He it is who has been raised above all the mountains and hills, that is, the heights of the saints.

VERSE 9.-- My beloved is [like] a roe and a young hart. In the assumption of flesh and in humility [ Cod. Vat., humanitate] Christ is compared to a roe; in the variety of virtues and in innocence, to a young hart, that is, of the patriarchs. Lo, he himself stands behind our wall, looking through the windows, gazing through the lattices. Clothed with the wall of our mortality, he lay hidden; but gazing toward us through the lattices and windows, while he worked miracles, or [ Cod. Vat., ut] that he might appear from his miracles, who lay hidden by his sufferings.

VERSE 10.-- And my beloved speaks to me. He exhorts me to 647Bpreach, saying: Arise, hasten, my love [columba mea] my fair one, and come. Arise from the bed of rest, in which thou seekest to take care of thyself alone. Hasten and come to fulfill for thy neighbors also the care of salvation, through the zeal of diligent preaching.

VERSE 11.-- For now the winter is past, the rain is gone and departed. Now the cold of unbelief and the rain of iniquity have departed, which covered the whole world until the time of the Lord's incarnation.

VERSE 12.-- The flowers have appeared on the earth. That is, the beginnings of faith and justice have blossomed in the world, as the Church grew. The time of pruning has come. That is, when the useless shoots of vain religion have been cut away, the hearts of men are prepared [ C. V., praeparentur] for the future fruit of faith. 647CThe voice of the turtledove has been heard in our land, that is, of Christ our Savior, saying: Do penance, for the kingdom of heaven has drawn near (Matth. III, 2) .

VERSE 13.-- The fig tree has put forth its green figs. The precepts of the old law have fallen. The flowering vines have given their odor, that is, the gospel people, or flowering vines, have given far and wide the odor of holy conduct. Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come. O my bride and my love, to whom I have offered such great goods, arise and come, and gird thyself for the contest, whence thou mayest receive eternal rest.

VERSE 14.-- My dove; through the infusion of the Holy Spirit. In the clefts of the rock, in the hollows of the wall. That is, in the wounds which the Bridegroom 647Dreceived for the salvation of the bride; and the hollow of the wall, that is, the safekeeping of the heavenly virtues. The dove sitting in the clefts of the rock builds its nest, when the Church places the hope of her salvation in the Lord's passion, when in the sacrament of his death she trusts to guard herself from the snares of the ancient enemy, as from the swoop of a hawk, and in the same [passion] strives to bring forth a progeny of spiritual sons, that is, of virtues. Whence Jeremiah, in the person of Moab, inviting the heretics to unity, says: Leave the cities and dwell in the rock, O inhabitants of Moab; be as a dove that nests in the highest mouth of the cleft (Jer. XLVIII, 28) . The wall 648Aserves for the fortifying of the vineyard, and is here explained as made of stones, whence Isaiah: A vineyard was made for my beloved on a horn, in a fruitful place, and he surrounded it with a wall (Isai. V, 1, 2) . Which wall signifies protection, because the Lord surrounds the Church, lest she be laid waste by the assault of unclean spirits. Show me thy face. Thou who in the hidden place of secret rest desirest, like a dove, to lie concealed, I pray, go forth into public actions, and from thy works show thy face [ Cod. Vat., fidem]. Let thy voice sound in my ears. The voice, namely, of praise and of preaching. For thy voice is sweet, and thy face 397 comely. For that voice is sweet to the Lord, to whom it is sweet to declare the words of the Lord to his neighbors, or to sound back praises to the Lord himself; and that faith is comely which, adorned with works, does not fear 648Bto suffer adversities [ Cod. Vat., non timet].

VERSE 15.-- Catch us the little foxes, that destroy the vineyards. That is, conquer the heretics and schismatics, little [ Cod. Vat., pravos] in faith and deceitful in word, who are wont to tear with the tooth of depraved doctrine the untutored minds of the faithful. For our vineyard has flowered. That is, the peoples of the elect sprout far and wide.

VERSE 16.-- My beloved to me. That is, he alone is beloved to me, and he alone is my helper. And I to him. I alone am beloved, because no other [ Cod. Vat., nullus alius] rightly loves Christ but the one Church, and no other is loved by him. Who feeds among the lilies. That is, in the cleanness of faith and the brightness of virtues.

VERSE 17.-- Until the day breathe, and the shadows decline. Until the eternal light of the age to come arise, and 648Cthe shadows, that is, the errors of the present life, pass away. Return, be like, my beloved, to a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of Bethel. I beseech thee, my beloved, that thou often return to me with the sweetness of thy visitation, because with the flesh which thou tookest from the stock of the patriarchs thou hast ascended above the whole height of the heavenly mountains, that thou mayest relieve [ Cod. Vat., reveles] the labor of my pilgrimage by the contemplation of the eternal homeland.

VERSE 1.-- In my little bed by night [Cod. Vat., noctem] I sought him whom my soul loves; I sought him and found him not [Cod. Vat., quaesivi illum et non inveni ]. Long ago, she says, with much zeal I sought the Lord, but because [ Cod. Vat., quia] I was still subject to the enticements 648Dof my flesh, and blinded by the darkness of deep ignorance, I found not the light of truth, that is, the Lord.

VERSE 2.-- I will rise and go about the city; through the streets and squares I will seek him whom my soul loves. I sought him, and found him not. I resolved in my mind to rise from the little bed of carnal pleasures, to go about lands and seas, and to approach the teachings [ Cod. Vat., ministeria] of the philosophers; but not even thus did I find him.

VERSE 3.-- The keepers [Cod. Vat., vigiles] who keep the city found me. Have you seen him whom my soul 649Aloves? The watchmen who keep the Church are the apostles and teachers, who found the gentile world anxious ( Cod. Vat., sollicitantem] in the search for truth.

VERSE 4.-- When I had passed a little beyond them, I found him whom my soul loves. When I gave myself over to their teaching, soon I found the light of truth, which I had long sought [ Cod. Vat., quod quaesivi]. I held him, and will not let him go, until I bring him into my mother's house, and into the chamber of her that bore me. I have held [ Cod. Vat., teneo donec . . . ] him with firm faith, and will hold him, until at the end of the age, through the office of preaching, I bring him into the house and bed of the Synagogue, who bore me in the Lord, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd.

649BVERSE 5.-- I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes and the harts of the fields, that you stir not up, nor make to awake, my beloved, until she herself please. In the foregoing we did not find that the bride had come to the rest of sleep; but rather that, leaping from her little bed, she had hastened with the greatest labor to the finding of her beloved; and how the beloved adjures the daughters of Jerusalem, that they should not disturb her. But perhaps that soul, lulled in a happy slumber, which knows how to rest in divine love, closes the eye of the heart on outward things, and opens it on inward things. Rightly therefore are the daughters of Jerusalem adjured not to stir up the beloved, that is, not to hinder by an importunate irruption a mind devoted to God from its aim of heavenly desire. This passage is repeated in the Song of love, that the Lord may show that he takes no lesser care 649Cfor the Church gathered from the gentiles than for the Church gathered from the Jews. For that he adjures the daughters not to stir up the beloved can be so understood, that he commands those who from among the Jews came first into the faith not to trouble them, nor to gainsay the rest of those who from the error of gentile-hood have come to the faith.

398 VERSE 6.-- Who is this that comes up through the desert? The Synagogue marvels how the gentile people, cleansed by no ministry of circumcision, instructed by no admonition of the prophets, had suddenly ascended from the lowest pleasures, through the desert of gentile-hood and idolatry, to the high summits of the virtues and the embraces of the Bridegroom. Whose faith is of the greater wonder, in that it invincibly keeps what it received from above, 649Das John witnesses, who says: I know where thou dwellest, where the seat of Satan is; and thou holdest my name, and hast not denied my faith (Apoc. II, 13) . By the desert can also be signified that manner of life which, separated from the enticements of the world, is given only to the searching of God's law and to the observance of the heavenly precepts. As a little column of smoke from aromatic spices. Kindled with the fire of love, she strives toward heavenly things with every effort of the virtues. Smoke at the same time is wont partly to rise, partly, being drawn on high, to vanish. So also the Church, in certain of her members, is newly born through 650Athe grace of the Holy Spirit; in certain others, as in those born before, she is gathered to heavenly things. She is likened not to smoke, but to a little column of smoke, that the unity of the Church's faith may be signified. Of myrrh and frankincense, and of all the powder of the perfumer. From the mortification of carnal pleasures, and the purity of prayers, and the odor of all the virtues.

VERSE 7.-- Behold, sixty valiant men surround the bed of Solomon, of the most valiant of Israel. The bed of Solomon is the quiet manner of life of the saints. The sixty valiant men are the holy preachers and most valiant warriors, who with a clean heart are worthy to see God.

VERSE 8.-- All holding swords, and most skilled in wars. For they hold the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God — they who fulfill in deed what [ Cod. Vat., quidquid] they teach with the mouth. Each one's sword upon 650Bhis thigh, because of nightly fears. The nightly fears are the snares of hidden temptation. But the sword is the watchful guard, pressing down the concupiscences of the flesh, lest the uncleanness of life stain the word of preaching.

VERSE 9.-- King Solomon made himself a litter of the wood of Lebanon. The litter of Solomon is the holy Church, which raises believers to the banquets of eternal blessedness, which is built of those strong in soul, as of incorruptible timbers.

VERSE 10.-- Its pillars he made of silver. The silver pillars are the teachers shining with the light of eloquence. The golden headrest. The golden headrest is the hope of perpetual rest promised to the faithful [ Cod. Vat., perpetua . . . promissa]. The purple ascent. What else is the purple ascent but the blood of the martyrs 650Cand the passion of our Redeemer? For one does not ascend to the banquets of life except through the mystery of the passion of Christ. The midst he paved with charity, for the daughters of Jerusalem. For everyone who has charity of God and neighbor will come joyful to this rest, to these banquets. All these ornaments Christ bestowed on the Church out of the exceeding charity with which he loved us and gave himself for us.

VERSE 11.-- Go forth and see, O daughters of Zion, King Solomon. Go forth in mind and deed from the turbulent conduct of the world, that you may be able to see the King of peace. In the diadem with which his mother crowned him. See the Lord Christ in the humanity which, taken from his virgin mother, he placed at the right hand of the paternal majesty. 650DIn the day of his dispensation [Cod. Vat., disponsationis]. In the time of his incarnation, in which he came forth from the virginal womb to join to himself the Church as his bride. And in the day of the gladness of his heart. That is, of the redemption of the human race, which was a day of gladness to Christ.

VERSE 1.-- How fair thou art, my love, how fair thou art! He calls the Church fair; and he repeats "fair," because he saw her to be praiseworthy both in action and in preaching: 651Ain action, namely, because like a little column of smoke she rises from aromatic spices; and in preaching, because she strives to make even her neighbors come into her fellowship, saying: Go forth and see. Thine eyes are doves'. Thy senses are excellent in the contemplation of spiritual things 399 and modest [ Al., venerandi], by which thou hast merited to see and to know my gifts, which thou hast lately set forth, and my diadem, which thou hast lately preached. Besides that which lies hidden within. For great indeed is the glory of open work, but far more incomparable is the reward of eternal recompense, which, while we make our pilgrimage on earth, cannot be seen [ Cod. Vat., quae necdum videri potest]. Thy hair is as flocks of goats. By the hair can be understood the faithful peoples, who by their number furnish the greatest adornment to the Church. Which 651Bhave come up from Mount Gilead. Gilead is interpreted "heap of testimony," which well suits the united multitude of the saints.

VERSE 2.-- Thy teeth are as flocks of shorn sheep. By the hair are signified the more fragile, but by the teeth the more perfect ones, apt for governing the Church. Which have come up from the washing. That is, from the font of holy baptism, they who are both shorn and washed, that is, stripped by renouncing [ Cod. Vat., renuntiantes] the world, and cleansed by the washing of life. All with twin offspring. That is, fruitful with a twofold charity. And there is not a barren one among them. There is none who does not produce the offspring of good work.

VERSE 3.-- Thy lips are as a scarlet ribbon [Cod. Vat., cocunea], and thy speech is sweet. By the scarlet ribbon 651Cis understood the doctrine of truth. The lips of the bride are likened to scarlet, because the Church does not cease to preach the price of the Lord's blood, by which she was redeemed; or because holy preaching blazes with the ardor of charity. As a piece of pomegranate, so are thy cheeks, besides that which lies hidden within. By the cheeks is expressed modesty, by the pomegranate the passion of Christ. The bride therefore has the redness of the pomegranate in her cheeks, when she confesses the sacrament of the Lord's passion in words and proves it by deeds.

VERSE 4.-- Thy neck is as the tower of David. The tower of David is the Church, the neck is the preachers, by whose faith and constancy in that same city she is firm, and on every side unassailable. Which is built with bulwarks. But the bulwarks of that same city are the defenses of Holy Scripture, or the examples of the preceding 651DFathers. A thousand shields hang from it. Because as many as are the precepts in the divine books, so many are the defenses of our breast, by which we are defended against all snares. All the armor of the valiant. It is the whole equipment, whether of action or of heavenly doctrine, by which we not only escape, but also overcome.

VERSE 5.-- Thy two breasts are two twin fawns of a she-goat [Cod. Vat., capreae], which feed among the lilies.

VERSE 6.-- Until the day breathe and the shadows decline. The two breasts are are the two peoples coming from the circumcision and from the gentile world, who through humility indeed understand themselves to be small and sinners; but running in charity 652Athey pass over all the obstacles of the world. Which feed [ Cod. Vat., pascunt] among the lilies, that is, in the most shining examples of the holy Fathers, until, the eternal day breathing, we pass beyond the shadows of the present [ Cod. Vat., praesentes] mortality. I will go to the mountain of myrrh and to the hill of frankincense. By myrrh is expressed the mortification of the flesh; by frankincense the devotion of prayer. As if the Bridegroom would say: I will frequent them, and, gracious, will glorify with devout illumination those whom I perceive to be exalted in the virtue of passion or of prayer.

VERSE 7.-- Thou art wholly fair, my love, and there is no spot in thee. In all, namely, who fear God, small and great.

VERSE 8.-- Come from Lebanon, my bride, come from Lebanon, come. Lebanon is interpreted "whiteness," that is, 652Bthe soul made white by good deeds, which the Bridegroom exhorts three times to come: first, living [ Cod. Vat., viventes] in the flesh through good works. Secondly, freed from the flesh, to receive the blessed life. Thirdly, when the body has been received back, to enjoy after the resurrection the perfect joys. Thou shalt be crowned from the head of Aman [Cod. Vat., Amana], from the top of [Sanir] and Hermon, from the dens of lions, from the mountains of leopards. The lions, for their pride, and the leopards, for their cruelty, are the evil spirits. But by the name of the mountains are signified the proud hearts of unbelievers, where the unclean spirits have their seat. When the holy preachers convert such men to the way of salvation, they are crowned from the head and top of the mountains, that is, from the princes of the wicked, because from the labor of the 652Ccontest grows the crown of glory.

VERSE 9.-- Thou hast wounded my heart, my sister, my bride, thou hast wounded my heart. In the wounding of the heart is understood the greatness of Christ's love toward the Church. In one 400 of thine eyes, and in one hair of thy neck. In the holy unity of the teachers, that is, of the eyes; and in the devout unity of the subject people, that is, of the hairs.

VERSE 10.-- How beautiful are thy breasts, my sister, my bride. Again, by the name of breasts are expressed the holy teachers, because of the consolation of the weak and the sustaining of little ones, which is done with milk. Thy breasts are more beautiful than wine. The sweetness of grace is more beautiful than the austerity of the law. And the odor of thine ointments above all aromatic spices. The most delightful fame of the faith, spread [ Cod. Vat., 652Ddiffusae] through the whole world, is broader than that of the old law and of the Fathers [in it], which is confined within Judea alone.

VERSE 11.-- Thy lips, O bride, are a dripping honeycomb. A honeycomb is honey in wax: but honey in wax is the spiritual meaning of the divine oracles within the letter. Dripping honey, because almost every single sentence has manifold meanings. The lips of the bride are the teachers, who make plain the manifold meanings contained in the sacred letters. Honey and milk are under thy tongue. By milk is signified the instruction of little ones, by honey the stronger doctrine of the perfect. Under the tongue, that is, in the meditation of the heart. And the odor of thy garments 653Ais as the odor of frankincense. The garments of the Church are her works, which are compared to the odor of frankincense, because all the holy things the Church does for the Lord render through them the office of prayers.

VERSE 12.-- A garden enclosed is my sister, my bride, a garden enclosed, a fountain sealed. The enclosed garden is the Church, which brings forth the manifold shoots of spiritual works. She is a fountain, because she overflows with saving doctrine; enclosed, because fortified by the Lord's protection she endures; sealed, by the word of faith.

VERSE 13.-- Thy shoots are a paradise of pomegranates with the fruits of apples. Through the watering of holy baptism the holy Church sends forth from herself a paradise of pomegranates, that is, of the holy martyrs. With the fruits of apples, that is, with the fruit of the holy 653Bvirtues.

VERSE 14.-- Cypress with spikenard, spikenard and saffron. Cypress is an aromatic tree, signifying the blessing of heavenly grace. Spikenard expresses the figure of the Lord's passion, saffron the fervor of charity. Cypress is joined to spikenard, when divine grace strengthens us to suffer for Christ. Again, spikenard is joined to saffron, when out of charity we willingly undergo death for Christ. Sweet cane and cinnamon. Sweet cane, which is also cassia [ Cod. Vat., casia], is an aromatic tree, but a small one, and therefore signifies the humble in spirit. Likewise cinnamon signifies those who despise themselves, which is itself also a short tree, but fragrant and sweet; for humility has great praise and sweetness with God. With 653Call the trees of Lebanon. As sweet cane and cinnamon show the humble thoughts of the saints, so the trees of Lebanon show their lofty actions. Myrrh and aloe are aromatic trees, which express the continence of the flesh. With all the chief ointments. That is, with the more excellent graces of the virtues. And beautiful is the conjunction of these trees with the ointments, because while we restrain the flesh from wantonness, it follows that we receive the greater gifts of the spirit.

VERSE 15.-- A fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, which flow with force. The Church is both — a fountain of gardens, because she brings forth spiritual fruits; and a well of living waters, because of the hidden mysteries, which are opened to the saints through the revelation of the Holy Spirit [alone]. Of living waters, because of the divine oracles, 653Dwhich proceed from the invisible treasures of divine grace. From Lebanon. He speaks of the Church herself, who is both white through the cleanness of faith, and high through the glory of virtues.

VERSE 16.-- Arise, O north wind, and come, O south wind, and blow through my garden. By the north wind are signified the adversities of the world, by the south wind its allurements, because by a twofold assault the Church is tested. "Arise" is the voice of one permitting, not of one commanding. And let its aromatic spices flow. That is, let the constancy of the virtues scatter wondrous odors. Let my beloved come into his garden. Let the Lord come into his Church, and himself keep her everywhere unspotted, and make her fruitful with the harvest of faith [ Cod. Vat., fecundam]. And let him eat the fruit of his apples. And let him gladly 654Alook upon and thankfully receive the works of his saints. 401

VERS. 1.-- Come into my garden, my sister, my spouse. Come, he says, most often into my Church; and I come to correct, to help, to strengthen. I have gathered my myrrh with my spices. By myrrh, suffering or mortification; by the spices, all the virtues are expressed. He reaps the myrrh with the spices when he leads the martyrs, together with the rest of the elect, to the ripeness of their rewards. I have eaten the honeycomb with my honey, I have drunk my wine with my milk. By the honeycomb and the wine the preachers are understood; by the honey and the milk, the hearers; and the inward Judge approves and rewards both. Eat, O friends, drink and be inebriated, most dear ones. Friends, by doing 654Bwhat I command; most dear, by embracing me with entire charity. I beseech you, thus fill your hearts with the deeds of the saints, as with a choice banquet.

VERS. 2.-- I sleep. By the gift of God's grace, in the peace of the present life [ Al., Ecclesiae] I worship him. And my heart waketh. The more tranquilly I am free from outward assaults, the more deeply I see with inward sight [ Cod. Vat., eo altius intus video] how good God is. The voice of my beloved knocking. He knocks at the door of the heart when the Lord rouses us to advance in virtues. Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled. That is, open your heart to me. My sister, because my co-heir. My love, because privy to my secrets [ Cod. Vat., arcanis meis]. My dove, because illumined by the gift of my Spirit. My undefiled, because alone worthy 654Cof my regard. For my head is full of dew, and my locks of the drops of the nights. The head of Christ is God; the locks are the gatherings of the faithful. In the dew and the drops of the nights is shown the charity growing cold in many, which they ought to have had toward God and neighbor. Therefore the Lord necessarily rouses each of the faithful to the zeal [ Al., officium] of preaching. To whom, being summoned to the labor of teaching, the Church replies:

VERS. 3.-- I have put off my coat, how shall I put it on? As if she said openly: I have forsaken worldly affairs for your sake, how shall I take them up again? I have washed my feet, how shall I defile them? By the tears of secret compunction I have already washed away earthly thoughts; how shall I again be polluted with the filth of the world [ Al., immundis]? — for the office of preaching can scarcely exist without worldly occupation [ Al., praeoccupatione] 654D.

VERS. 4.-- My beloved put his hand through the opening. For the beloved put his hand through the opening when the Lord invisibly kindles us to the work of virtues by hidden compunction, and calls back to our memory how, and how great things, descending from the bosom of the Father, he suffered for us. And my belly trembled at his touch. The spouse, recalling these things in her inmost conscience, wholly trembles, accusing the sloth of repose, hastening to the labor of preaching.

VERS. 5.-- I rose up to open to my beloved. That is, to preach the word of the Lord. My hands dropped with myrrh; my fingers were full of the [choicest ] myrrh. For by the hands works, by the fingers discretion 655Ais signified; by the myrrh, continence and sufferings; which is then most approved when, solely for the charity of God and neighbor, either continence [is practiced], or sufferings are undergone.

VERS. 6.-- I opened the bolt of my door to my beloved. He opens the bolt to the Bridegroom who [opens the temple of his breast at the coming of divine inspiration, that is], makes it worthy of his visitation and indwelling. But he had turned aside and passed on. Because to no one in this life is granted the full vision of God, as in the life to come, therefore the beloved is said to pass on — that is, he shows himself to be seen and enjoyed more fully in the future. My soul melted when he spoke. The more sweetly, she says, I received the voice and nearness of my beloved, the more loftily whatever was cold in me grew warm with charity 655B[and was melted ( Cod. Vat. et quidquid rigidum liquefuit)]. I sought him, and found him not; I called, and he did not answer me. Because the gift of compunction and of inmost sweetness is not in the will of him who wills, but in the mercy of him who gives; therefore they do not always possess it equally, since God does not offer himself to those laboring in exile in the same way as to those reigning in the fatherland.

VERS. 7.-- The keepers that went about the city found me, they struck me, and they wounded me; the keepers of the walls took away my cloak from me. The keepers of the city, that is of the Church, [are] the holy teachers, who with diligent preaching go about 402 the hearts of individuals, and wound them with the darts of heavenly love, and, that they may burn the more, set them aflame, and withdraw from them the covering of their old 655Cmanner of life.

VERS. 8.-- I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if you find my beloved [Cod. Vat. om. meum], that you tell him that [Cod. Vat. quia] I languish with love. Deservedly the spouse languishes, when, struck by the sword of the word of God, she puts off the earthly garment; and she adjures the daughters of Jerusalem, that is, the souls worthy of God, to refer the greatness of their love to God, and to ask for themselves the heavenly help for beholding his glory.

VERS. 9.-- What manner of one is thy beloved of a beloved, O fairest among women? what manner of one is thy beloved of a beloved, that thou hast so adjured us? I beseech thee, since thou hast so adjured me, that with the love by which thou sayest thou languishest, thou make me too burn through the word of preaching; 655Dand show me what manner of one thy beloved is on that side by which he may be loved, not feared — because perfect charity casteth out fear (I Joan. IV, 18) .

VERS. 10.-- My beloved is white and ruddy, chosen out of thousands. White, because without sin; ruddy with the blood of his passion; chosen out of thousands, because he alone is the mediator of God and men.

VERS. 11.-- His head is the finest gold. The head of Christ is God, who alone is good and best. His hair is as the high branches of palms, black as a raven. The hair is the throngs of the saints, who cleave to God in faithful service. Raised on high as palms, because of their eminence [ Cod. Vat. om. eminentiam] before God. Black, because of 656Atheir being despised among men. Or: raised on high because of victory; black because of afflictions.

VERS. 12.-- His eyes are as doves upon the streams of waters — they are the holy teachers, through whom the Church sees what is right; who are well [compared to] doves, because of their innocence [ Cod. Vat. om. innocentiam] and simplicity; and are compared to streams of waters because of the divine graces. Which are washed with milk, and sit beside the fullest streams. He calls them washed with milk, that is, cleansed by the sweetest grace. And they sit beside the fullest streams, that is, the abundance of all spiritual gifts. In the streams may be signified the learning of the old law, and in the fullest streams the perfection of the gospel teaching, because the preachers bring forth out of their treasures things old and new (Matth. XIII, 52) .

656BVERS. 13.-- His cheeks are as little beds of spices. In the cheeks of our Savior are expressed at once his modesty [ Cod. Vat., modesta pietas] and his severity. In the little beds of spices are signified the virtues, and the sweetness, and the fame of his glory. Planted by the perfumers: his lips are lilies dropping the first myrrh. By the prophets and the apostles; these [narrating] the secrets of his coming incarnation [ Cod. Vat., futura], those, narrating its accomplished deeds. His lips are the words of his teaching; lilies, because they promise the charity of the heavenly kingdom; dropping the first myrrh, because they preach that one must come to it through the contempt of present pleasures.

VERS. 14.-- His hands are turned and golden. The hands, that is, his works; because what he taught in words, he fulfilled in deeds. Turned on a lathe, because they hold in themselves the whole rule of justice 656C, as it is said: It behooveth me to fulfil all justice (Matth. IV, 15) . And the hands are golden, because all that he did as man, he accomplished by the glory of his divinity. Full of hyacinths. Which rouse us to the hope and love of heavenly things; because the hyacinth [ Cod. Vat., in hyacintis] is a gem of an airy color. His belly is of ivory, set with sapphires. The belly of the beloved therefore signifies the frailty of his humanity; the ivory, the beauty of chastity; the sapphire, the loftiness of heavenly virtues. Set with sapphires, because partly his human frailty is understood in hunger, temptation, weariness, death; partly his divine loftiness in miracles, in the resurrection and the glory of the ascension.

VERS. 15.-- His legs are pillars of marble. By the word "legs" are intimated the journeys [ Al., munera] of Christ's incarnation 656D, which are compared to pillars of marble on account of their firmness and uprightness. Which are set upon bases of gold. Because whatever was done through him or concerning him, all was ordained by the counsel of divine foreknowledge [ Cod. Vat., provisionis; al., promissionis] before the ages of the world. His appearance is as of Lebanon; chosen as the cedars. As Lebanon by the loftiness and beauty of its trees surpasses other mountains, so the Lord Christ surpasses all the saints by the loftiness of his merits and the grace of his virtues. Chosen as the cedars. As it surpasses in its dignity the other trees that grow in Lebanon, so Christ transcends in his glory all who are born to life in the Church.

657AVERS. 16.-- His throat is most sweet. In the throat is recalled the inward sweetness of his words, which he who tastes hungers not. And wholly to be desired. What more 403 do you seek? He is wholly to be desired, because wholly God and wholly man, on whom the angels also desire to look. God in the majesty of the Father; man in the virginity of the mother; in the one the Creator, in the other the Savior. Such is my beloved, and such is my friend, O daughters of Jerusalem. The more devotedly each one loves God, the more familiarly he has God as friend; and it is necessary that you understand him to be such, if you wish to have him as a friend.

VERS. 1.-- Whither is thy beloved gone, O fairest among women! For the sake of the beauty of the song [ Cod. Vat., carnis] 657Bthe persons speaking are varied; yet nevertheless they signify the Church of Christ, which is expressed by the word "spouse." Fairest among women. Fair are the individual churches of the saints, but fairest is the whole company of the entire holy Church throughout all the world. Whither hath thy beloved turned aside, and we will seek him. He who once dwelt on earth in bodily form — tell whither he has turned aside, that we may follow [ Al., quaeramus] him with thee.

VERS. 2.-- My beloved is gone down into his garden, to the little bed of spice. As if she had said, he has ascended thither whence he descended. Into the garden, that is, into his Church, that he might water it with the fountain of his grace, as a little bed of spices, that it might bud with the flowers of virtues. That he may feed in the gardens, and gather the lilies. He feeds in the gardens while he delights in the pious labors of the saints; and he gathers the lily 657Cwhile he leads those who attain to the perfect [ Cod. Vat., perfectorum] whiteness of merits into the heavenly kingdoms.

VERS. 3.-- I to my beloved, and my beloved to me, who feedeth among the lilies. I prepare for my beloved a place of dwelling in myself; and he for me with himself, who ever feeds among the holy desires of chaste minds. Thus far it is the voice of the holy Church, praising and seeking the Bridegroom; now what he, being sought, replies, is added below.

VERS. 4.-- Thou art fair, my [love], sweet and comely as Jerusalem. The holy Church is called sweet and comely as Jerusalem, because the desire of her life is now likened to the vision of inmost peace. Terrible as an army set in array. That is, united [ Al., 657Djuncta] and knit together in charity, so that no place be opened to the enemy through the evil of discord, because only in the unity of peace are we terrible to the enemy.

VERS. 5.-- Turn away thy eyes from me, for they have made me flee away. That is, the eyes of thy mind. Do not seek to know me perfectly on the journey of thy pilgrimage, which cannot be; because the more intently thou seekest to know me, the more surely wilt thou understand me to be incomprehensible; and do not seek on the way the reward which is reserved for thee in the fatherland. Thy hair is as a flock of goats, which have appeared from Gilead.

VERS. 6.-- Thy teeth as flocks of sheep, which came up from the washing, all with twin young, and there is none barren among them. These little verses were expounded before, but repetition is a sign of firmness 658A. By the hair, the peoples; by the teeth, the teachers; by the twin young, the two precepts of charity are understood.

VERS. 7.-- Thy cheeks are as the rind of a pomegranate, apart from thy eyes. The cheeks of the holy Church are the spiritual Fathers, who are wonderful in virtues, and venerable in character, and not ashamed to glory in the cross of Christ. And these things that are seen in her are very great, but far greater are those that are not seen and are reserved for the future.

VERS. 8.-- There are sixty queens, and eighty concubines, and of young maidens there is no number. The queens are those who, out of love for the Bridegroom and with an eye to the heavenly reward, beget for the eternal King a [spiritual] 658Boffspring, through the preaching of truth and faith and the font of holy baptism. The concubines are those who teach Christ, by preaching or baptizing, for carnal ends only [ Cod. Vat., quae carnali solummodo commodo]. And therefore the former are signified by the perfection of the number six, multiplied by the decalogue [ Al., denarium]; the latter, by the imperfection of the number eight, not sincerely keeping the decalogue. The young maidens are the souls lately reborn by the grace of Christ, whose sum, because of the multitude [ Cod. Vat., prae multitudine] of the heavenly citizens, transcends number.

404 VERS. 9.-- One art [Cod. Vat., est] thou, my dove, my perfect one. Namely the holy and universal Church throughout all the world. She is one to her mother, the chosen one of her that bore her [Cod. Vat., matris . . . genitricis]. That is, the heavenly Jerusalem, which is the mother of us all, whence 658Cthe grace of the Holy Spirit descends to us, through which we are reborn to God. The daughters of Zion saw her and proclaimed her most blessed: the queens and the concubines praised her. Those whom he before called young maidens, he now names daughters. The queens and concubines are the same as before, who all praise the catholic Church.

VERS. 10.-- Who is she that goeth forth as the rising dawn? The Church goes forth as the dawn, because now the sun of true light, having risen in her, is shown to the world after the darkness of long ignorance. Fair as the moon; because, illumined by the sun of justice, she lights up the night of the world. [ Chosen as the sun ], because she bears the image of her Maker in all justice, holiness, and piety [ Cod. Vat., veritate]. Terrible as an army set in array. 658DTerrible to the powers of the air [ Cod. Vat., aereis] in the unity of charity, faith, and hope.

VERS. 11.-- I went down into the garden of nuts, to see the fruits of the valley. For the garden of nuts is the Church of the present age [ Cod. Vat., Ecclesia praesens], where we do not at all see one another's consciences, but when the shell of the body is broken by temptation, the taste of inward sweetness will appear. The fruits of the valley are the fruit of humility. The holy Church goes down through the holy teachers, who make progress toward good fruits, or who still need the watering of teaching. That I might look whether the vineyard had flourished. That I might look whether the pursuits of virtues had flourished. And whether the pomegranates had budded. Whether any were prepared, after the example of the Lord's passion, to shed their own blood.

659AVERS. 12.-- I knew not: my soul troubled me because of the chariots of Aminadab. I knew not that the gifts of spiritual grace were in thee, O spouse, but my soul troubled me because of the bringing in [ Cod. Vat., inductionem] of the New Testament, and of the gospel chariot, by which [ Cod. Vat., quia] Aminadab (which is interpreted, "the willing one of my people") — that is, Christ — is borne throughout the whole world; to whom the Church, consoling, presently replies.

VERS. 13.-- Return, return, O Shulammite; return, return, that we may look upon thee. Be not troubled, but return to the acknowledgment of thy Redeemer, who was so often promised to thee in the prophets and the law. Return by purity of faith, by perfection of works. O Shulammite, that is, captive — now that the bond of unbelief is utterly scraped away 659B[ Verba penitus abraso omissa in Cod. Vat. ] — return to thy Redeemer, that thou mayest be saved.

VERS. 1.-- What wilt thou see in the Shulammite, but the choirs of the camps? Thou grievest that the Synagogue is hardened; near is the time when thou shalt see in her the choirs of those warring against the malignant spirits and of those praising God. How beautiful are thy steps in shoes, O daughter of the prince! Now the praises of the Church are set forth by the Bridegroom himself: and first the constancy of works, and the mortification of pleasures, are praised in her, whom he also names daughter of the prince, that is, of Christ, on account of the grace of baptism and the nobility of virtues. The joints of thy thighs are like necklaces, which are wrought by the hand of a craftsman. The concord of the two peoples, fruitful with spiritual offspring 659C, is signified in the joint of the thighs; which, like necklaces, are wrought by the hand of a craftsman, that is, established by the ineffable bounty of our Maker: in the necklaces good works are expressed.

VERS. 2.-- Thy navel is a turned bowl, never lacking cups. The navel, that is, the frailty of our weakness against faith [ Cod. Vat., om. verba: contra fidem]. The bowl becomes turned when, admonished by the consciousness of our mortality and weakness, we strive with ready mind to offer to our neighbors the cup of the saving word. Thy belly is like a heap of wheat set about with lilies. It is a heap of wheat set about with lilies when the abundance of good work is gathered by the sole hope of perpetual light. In the belly, memory; in the wheat, the multiplication of good work; in the lilies, the chastity of hope is expressed. Likewise 659Din the wheat, the bread; and in the bowl, the drink, which is given to the poor, is expressed.

VERS. 3.-- Thy two breasts are like two twin fawns of a roe. Of this verse it was said above. The two breasts are the teachers of both peoples; the twin fawns are the two testaments agreeing with one another.

405 VERS. 4.-- Thy neck is like a tower of ivory [Cod. Vat., eburneae]. In the neck likewise are signified the teachers, who are compared to a tower of ivory for their firmness [ Cod. Vat., propter firmitatem] and beauty, because they furnish to the city of God both strength and adornment. Thy eyes like the pools in Heshbon, which are in the gate of the daughter of the multitude. Likewise the eyes of the Church are the teachers 660Abecause of their foresight, as the neck because of nourishment. And rightly are they compared to pools, because they cease not to furnish the streams of teaching to their hearers. Heshbon is interpreted "girdle of sorrow," because the saints, in place of the vain gladness of the flesh, are girded with the girdle of abstinence. And well "in the gates of the daughter of the multitude," because of the abundance of peoples flowing together through the gate of faith into the Church. Thy nose is like the tower of Lebanon. Likewise in the nose are signified the dispensers of the word of God, for the sake of discretion. A tower, because they hold the most eminent place in the Church. Which looks toward Damascus. That is, toward the bloodthirsty and the ungodly; because Damascus is interpreted "drinking blood." It signifies the carnal and the cruel, against whom the holy teachers ever keep watch in the tower of Lebanon, that is, in the firmness of the Church.

660BVERS. 5.-- Thy head is as Carmel, and the hair of thy head [as] the purple of a king bound in channels. In the head the mind is signified; in the hair, the thoughts; and as by the head the members, so by the mind the thoughts are governed, so that they may be occupied in Carmel (which is interpreted "the conscience of circumcision" [conclusa semicirculis omissa in Cod. Vat. ]). That is, that they be occupied with lofty things, and with the passion, which is expressed by the name of purple. The channels are the inmost hearts of the saints, in which such thoughts are bound.

VERS. 6.-- How fair thou art and how comely, most dear one, in delights. Fair in faith and comely in work. Most dear in delights, that is, in spiritual virtues.

VERS. 7.-- Thy stature is likened to a palm tree. That is, the uprightness of good working ever tends toward victory 660C. And thy breasts to clusters. To the breasts are compared the teachers of the Church, because of the milk of first instruction, and they are matched to clusters because of the mysteries of most sweet [ Cod. Vat., dulcissima] eternity.

VERS. 8.-- I said, I will go up into the palm tree, I will take hold of its fruits, and thy breasts shall be as the clusters of the vine. Aptly indeed is the victorious cross [ Cod. Vat., victoriosissima crux] compared to a palm, into which Christ, ascending, takes hold of its fruits, that is, the gifts which he bestowed upon the holy Church, which from that time budded forth the clusters of the vine, that is, the holy teachers, who abounded in greater knowledge and grace after the cross and resurrection of the Savior. And the odor of thy mouth [Cod. Vat., et odores tui] like that of apples.

VERS. 9.-- Thy throat like the best wine for 660Ddrinking. In the throat, the voice of present teaching; in the odor, the fame of the absent is signified: and therefore the one is compared to wine because of the fragrance of virtues, the other to apples because of the sweetness of absent fame. Worthy of my beloved. For the spouse snatched the word from the mouth of the Bridegroom, because he compared her to the best wine and subjoined it; Worthy of my beloved, that is, so great is the loftiness of gospel preaching that the beloved himself first, appearing through it in the flesh, opened to the world the heavenly way. And to be chewed by his lips and teeth. That is, he gave it to be meditated upon especially [ Cod. Vat., maximis] by the apostles and the preachers.

VERS. 10.--[ I to my beloved, and to no other, on whom 661AI bestow all the care of service and of love]. And his turning is toward me. He loves me alone, and helps me, that I fail not on the way.

VERS. 11, 12.-- Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field, let us abide in the villages. Let us rise early to the vineyards, let us see if the vineyard hath flourished, if the fruits are bringing forth, if the pomegranates have flowered. Because in no way is the holy Church sufficient — whether to go forth and advance to working well, or to abide by persisting in the exercise of good working, or even to rise up to the purpose of acting well, or to discern how far the minds of her hearers have advanced — unless aided by the grace of God, who said: Behold, I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the age (Matth. XXVIII, 20) . Likewise in the field, the Christians; in the villages, the pagans; in the vineyards 661B, the churches; in the flowers, faith; in the fruits, the virtues; in the pomegranates, martyrdom is signified. For in each of these the spouse seeks the presence of her beloved. There will I give thee my breasts. That is, the tutors of my little ones, because in all these the holy teachers make progress.

VERS. 13.-- The mandrakes have given an odor in our gates. The mandrake, because of its manifold kinds of remedies, is compared to the virtues of the saints. The gates of the Church 406 are the holy teachers. In such gates the mandrakes give their odor when the spiritual ones each spread abroad from themselves the fame [ Cod. Vat., palmam] of virtues far and wide. All the fruits, new and old, my beloved, I have kept for thee. The new and old fruits are the precepts or promises of the new and old 661Ctestament, all of which the Church refers to his grace.

VERS. 1.-- Who shall give thee to me for my brother, sucking the breasts of my mother? This is the voice of the ancient just, desiring the coming of Christ in the flesh. Sucking the breasts of my mother, that is, to be born and nourished in the synagogue, according to the nature of the human condition. That I may find thee outside. The beloved was within, while in the beginning was the Word; outside, when the Word was made flesh. And kiss thee. That is, that I may see face to face, and speak mouth to mouth. And now let no one despise me. Before the coming of Christ, the Church was only within the narrow bounds of Judaea; after the ascension, it was spread abroad and venerable in all the world.

661DVERS. 2.-- I will take hold of thee. I will receive thee, as thou comest, with ready and faithful devotion. And I will lead thee to the house of my mother. When the dispensation of the flesh is accomplished, I will lead thee, returning, with joyful eyes into the house of the mother, where the heavenly Jerusalem is our mother. There thou shalt teach me. Thou shalt make me hope for better gifts than I had had in the law. And I will give thee a cup of spiced wine. That is, fervent love, adorned with the various spices of virtues. And the new wine [Cod. Vat., mistum] of my pomegranates. That is, the glorious triumph of the holy martyrs, who with most fervent charity do not hesitate to pass over to thee through sword and flames.

662AVERS. 3.-- His left hand under my head, and his right hand shall embrace me. The left hand signifies the gifts of Christ's incarnation; and the right hand expresses the future joys of the saints with Christ.

VERS. 4, 5.-- I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, that you stir not up, nor make [the beloved] to awake, until she herself will. Who is this that cometh up from the desert, flowing with delights? The voice of the Synagogue, wondering how the Church had come up from the desert of heathendom into the sudden embraces of the Bridegroom. Flowing with delights, that is, with the beauty of all gifts. Leaning upon her beloved. Referring all that she has to the grace of the beloved, leaning upon him alone. Under the apple tree I raised thee up. The Bridegroom himself answered the Synagogue on behalf of the spouse. Under the apple tree I roused thee, that is, under the tree of the cross I called thee back 662B[ Cod. Vat., renovavi] from perpetual death, as the apostles and the rest of the elect from Judaea. There thy mother was corrupted; there she that bore thee was violated. That is, the greater part of the people, by denying Christ and choosing Barabbas, was reprobated unto the cross.

VERS. 6.-- Set me as a seal upon thy heart, as a seal upon thy arm. We bind a seal upon the arm or the finger for the remembrance of any matter. By the heart, thought; and by the arm, work is signified. If thou wouldst have me as Bridegroom, let there be within charity in unfeigned faith, and without devout working. For love is strong as death, jealousy hard as hell. My love toward thee is strong even unto death, O Synagogue! but thy jealousy against me was hard as hell. But 662Cturn thy jealousy into love, and thou shalt be to me spouse and sister and friend. Its lamps are lamps of fire and of flames. The lamps of love are the hearts of the faithful. Of fire, because of the fervor of the heart; of flames, because of the efficacy of working [ Cod. Vat., orationis].

VERS. 7.-- Many waters could not quench charity, neither shall the floods overwhelm it. By the many waters and the floods he means the assaults of temptations, which visibly or invisibly do not cease to attack the souls of the faithful, to which charity does not yield. If a man should give all the substance of his house for charity [Cod. Vat., dilectione], he shall despise it as nothing. But the saints, forsaking the substance of the whole world for the greatness of love, unless they also cast away their very selves, 662Dprofit nothing.

VERS. 8.-- Our sister is little, and hath no breasts; what shall we do to our sister in the day when she is to be spoken to? It signifies [ Cod. Vat. et al., designat] the first times of the Church being born from the gentiles, when as yet it was both small in number and less fit to preach the word 407 — as if the Bridegroom had said to the Synagogue concerning her: What shall we do to our sister in the day when she is to be spoken to? as if he said openly, small indeed in number is the Church of the gentiles, and not yet [ Al. add ad] is she sufficient to undertake the mystery [ Cod. Vat., ministerium] of the word; what then seems to thee, O Synagogue, is to be done concerning our sister in the day when she is to be spoken to, that is, to be led into the faith through the ministry 663Aof the word? To the silent Synagogue the Bridegroom himself answered what ought to be done:

VERS. 9.-- If she is a wall, let us build upon it bulwarks of silver. As if he said, if she has in herself any strong in faith, or bright in genius, or instructed in philosophy, we will add to them bulwarks of silver, that is, the knowledge of the divine Scriptures, that they may the more easily protect the weak and the unlearned. If she is a door, let us join it together with boards of cedar. If they be simple, yet eager with zeal for teaching, let us set before them the examples of the just of former times, that they may the more surely and effectively fulfill the work of teaching. The cedars signify the virtues of the saints, and the boards the breadth of charity. To these things the Church herself replies.

VERS. 10.-- I am a wall. I am framed together 663Bof living stones, and united by the glue of charity, and built upon the immovable foundation. And my breasts as a tower, since I was made in his presence, that is, having most mighty teachers like a tower, who both know how to nourish the little ones and to drive off all the darts of the evil one. And this befell me from that time when Christ reconciled me, [and through him I found peace]. As one finding peace. Because he himself is the true peace, making both one.

VERS. 11.-- There was a vineyard for the peaceable one in her, who hath peoples. The vineyard, that is, the catholic Church abounding in the fruit of faith, was for the peaceable one, that is, for Christ, who pacified all things in heaven and on earth, in that congregation which possessed many peoples out of the whole world, not in Judaea only. He handed it over to keepers, to the prophets and 663Cthe apostles, or to the angelic dignities. A man brings for its fruit a thousand pieces of silver. That is, for the eternal reward of this vineyard, he brings a thousand pieces of silver; that is, for the acquisition of the heavenly kingdom, which is the fruit of the vineyard, he left all that is of the world. The number one thousand is put for perfection, that is [ F., illius], of him who 664Aleft all things. The pieces of silver are taken for all money.

VERS. 12.-- My vineyard is before me. And this is the voice of the Bridegroom. But even though I entrust thee to other keepers, yet I ever have thee in my presence, seeing and rewarding the devotion of thy labor in all things. Thy thousand are for the peaceable one. Thy thousand — understand, pieces of silver; as if he had said, those who for my love give up all their own, have them reserved in peace, signifying the simpler ones in the Church, who lose all their substance, designated by the number one thousand, for the charity of God. And two hundred to those who keep its fruits. That is, pieces of silver to those who keep its fruits; who are the holy teachers, who give up all things of the world, and cease not to labor in the word of preaching. These are gifted, with me, with a double reward 664B, which is signified by the number two hundred.

VERS. 13.-- Thou that dwellest in the gardens, the friends hearken. Because our discourse must be ended, hear from me this last farewell. Ever dwell [ Cod. Vat., habita] in the gardens of virtues, and know that the friends, that is, the angelic spirits and the souls of the saints, ever regard thee and rejoice in thy progress. Make me to hear thy voice. That is, let the voice of preaching, as much as thou art able, ever be heard by me. To these things the spouse replied:

VERS. 14.-- Flee away, my beloved, and be like to a roe and to a young hart upon the mountains of spices. As if she said openly: since, appearing in the flesh, thou hast brought me the precepts and gifts of life, now, these being accomplished, return into 664Cthe bosom of the Father [ O my beloved, be like to a roe and to a young hart upon the mountains of spices ]. And let this be a comfort to me, that although I cannot behold thee with continual vision [ Cod. Vat., nequeo], thou mayest at least deign to console me with frequent visitation [ Cod. Vat., saltim crebra visione me consolari memento].

• 663

• 663C

The present letter, or little commentary on the cited passage from the Song, is believed to have been first published by Canisius, in Tome VI of the Lectiones Antiquae, pages 366-368, or in Tome II of Basnage's edition, Part I, page 540, from the library of the most renowned monastery of St. Gall; although Antonius Possevinus, in Tome I of the Apparatus Sacer, page 35, records an older edition, made in the year 1568, together with a commentary on the Psalms. The distinguished Quercetanus followed the edition of Canisius, and recorded it among the Works of the Blessed Flaccus Alcuin, page 306. Which edition we too follow, collated with an old Salzburg manuscript codex, whence we have noted certain variant readings. Alcuin was still a young man, if I am not mistaken, says Basnage in the passage cited, when he wrote this letter; for he desired to lie hidden among his intimates, dreading the judgments of the learned, nor did he dare to present himself to their sight. The writers of the Histoire littéraire de la France, Tome IV, page 305, note 6, also judge this letter to be of little importance 664C.

Concerning Daphnis, or Daphinus, all is unknown to us, except that he was a disciple of Alcuin, to whom he made known his grief over the perverse manner of life to which another disciple, Cuculus by name, had given himself, whom he laments in a singular poem, to be presented also in its own place from the Analecta of the distinguished Mabillon.

To my most beloved son Daphinus [ Ms., Daphni], Albinus the Father, greeting.

Since some time ago you treated with me of the theory of numbers, asking how in the most excellent Song of Solomon the number sixty should suit the queens, and eighty the concubines, and why the young maidens were without number: therefore, even though I know that you have read the full [ Ms., plenariam] account of this in the treatises of the holy Fathers, nevertheless, lest I sadden your solicitude, 665AI will say what seems able to suit my own unskillfulness, and what I would wish to lie hidden only among familiar ears, because I do not dare to present myself publicly [ Ms., publico] to the judgment of the great doctors.

For we read, in the most subtle theory of numbers, that some numbers are even, others odd; and likewise that of the even numbers some are perfect, others imperfect: likewise also that of the imperfect ones some are superabundant, others deficient. Now even numbers are those which can be divided into two equal parts: as eight into twice four, and four into twice two. Odd are those which cannot be divided into two equal parts, as seven or nine; which if you divide, you will not be able to find in them two equal [parts]: likewise of these even numbers some are perfect, others imperfect. A perfect number is 665Bone that is filled by its own parts, and is neither broken by diminution nor superabounds by the multiplication of its parts, as the number six. For the number six has as its half three, as its third two, and as its sixth one, which joined together fill up the same six; for one, two, three, make [six], which is filled by its own parts. It is neither broken by diminution nor overgrows by abundance; therefore the most perfect Creator, who created all things very good, founded the creatures of the original world in that number, to show that all things which he founded are perfect in their own kind.

Likewise the number eight [ Edit., octogenarius], if you divide it into the parts named from itself, is found to be less than itself; for it has as its half four, as its fourth two, and as its eighth one: which 665Cdrawn together do not fill up eight, but seven; one, two, and four make seven, not eight: and 409 therefore the second origin of this kind [ F., humani generis] began to grow from the number eight. For we read that there were eight souls in the ark, from whom the multitude of the whole human race sprang forth, that it might be shown that the second origin is more imperfect than the first, which was created in the number six. Hence also our Redeemer and Restorer of the first perfection: as Adam was created on the sixth day from the virgin earth, so he in the sixth age was made man from the Virgin Mary, that he might consecrate by his coming the perfection of the number six, which he showed in the founding of the first man.

Likewise we see the progression of numbers by joints, as by 665Dcertain units, growing to infinity through certain finite forms. For the first progression of numbers is from one up to ten. The second from 666Aten up to a hundred. The third from a hundred up to a thousand. And it is necessary that the same rule of perfection [or of imperfection] which [ Leg. quam] the first unit keeps in its numbers up to [ Ms., sub] ten, the second also keep in its tens up to a hundred. For as the number six, set in its parts by unit [ Ms., positis], is perfect in itself, so also sixty, its parts being set by ten, is known to be perfect, so that in sixty the ten always holds the place of the unit in six, and its division by its parts is of this sort: the half of sixty is thirty, as three is of six; and its third part is twenty, as two is in six; and let ten hold in it the place of the unit; which sum, if it is gathered, fills up the same sixty. 666BTen therefore, and twenty, and thirty, are sixty, just as three, and two, and one are six.

You will be able also, by yourself, according to the same rule, to explore the deficiency of eighty. For forty is the half of eighty, and twenty its fourth part, and ten its eighth: which drawn together make seventy, not eighty, for ten, twenty, forty are seventy [ Ms., faciunt].

But the sixty queens and eighty concubines are the rulers of the holy Church. But some of them teach for the sole charity of Christ; others, pursuing earthly advantages, labor in the Church, not by the labor [ Ms., ardore] of the heavenly fatherland, but sweat in teaching for the sake of earthly gain. These, in their perfection [ F., imperfectione], are compared to the number eighty: those 666C, by perfect blessedness, are signified by sixty, so that they are made worthy of the name of queens, because they do not cease to beget spiritual offspring — solely for the love of the Bridegroom, and for the multiplying of sons into the heavenly fatherland — by baptizing or preaching, a happy progeny. The former, however, are denoted by the name of concubines, because, through worldly ambition or for the sake of temporal honor, by preaching or baptizing they often beget noble sons indeed, but they themselves remain ignoble in themselves. Flee, most dear son, I beseech thee, the fellowship of these; and if at any time the mercy of God should deign to make thee a teacher, cease not thou to labor for the love of him who did not hesitate to shed his blood for thy salvation, so that there may be to thee, as reward [ Ms., sit merces], riches that shall not perish, but perpetual glory in 666Dthe heavenly bridal-chamber of [our] Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and glory unto all eternities. Amen.