MORALITATES IN CANTICA CANTICORUM

• 489C

To his lords and, in all things, by the merit of holiness reverend fathers, MILO bishop of the Morini, HUGH abbot of the Premonstratensians: that worse and last one of the servants of God, whose name is contained in the first five letters of the first five parts of the first Tome, [wishes them] to have the divided hoof of the foot of Ezekiel's calf.

The little work set out below upon the Song of Songs I began, divine grace going before, at the exhortation and encouragement of a certain faithful man who had once heard me disputing upon certain sentences of the Divinity. Besides, a certain infirmity, from my boyhood — though by intervals — yet frequently assails me and has assailed me, which for the greatest part urged me on to this work. 489DFor I judged that, if I pressed upon this work the more ardently, I should the less feel meanwhile the troubles of the infirmity that assails me. I reckoned, I say, that the pressing of this work would drive from me the harassment of the aforesaid infirmity. Truly I confess to all the truth of the matter. The work indeed was begun by me at God's inspiring, but nevertheless the aforesaid infirmity has as yet been little 490Cmitigated for me. But perhaps there will be some, of my own order or of another, who, feigning that they have the zeal of God — though not according to knowledge — will say: Who is he, or what is his person, or his own life, or his wisdom, that he has presumed to do this? To whom I say: I indeed, as I said above, am the worse and the last of the servants of God, infirm in the person of my body, contemptible in speech, in life despicable enough before God, and my wisdom is truly none.

« Great, he says, is the multitude of thy sweetness, O Lord, which thou hast hidden for them that fear thee (Psal. XXX). » [Vulg. Quam magna multitudo, "How great is the multitude"] Truly great and wonderful is the multitude of the sweetness of God, which God hides for those who fear and love him, both here in the Holy Scriptures and in the age to come in the contemplation of his majesty. But this sweetness 490Dthe lovers of the world cannot take in, because, filled with empty delights and deadly desires, they in no wise sigh after the unspeakable joys of the heavenly fatherland. This brief preface, therefore, we send before, ere we come to the book, that we may make our hearer studious and solicitous 491Afor the understanding of the mysteries of the divine reading, lest in this little book he seek anything bodily or carnal. For the letter of this little book is quite alien from that which it seems to sound; and unless we believed it to have been assuredly published by the Holy Spirit, we should adjudge it in all things unworthy of the charisms of the Holy Spirit. For who, hearing kisses, and the eyes and cheeks and lips of the Bride named, would not at once and deservedly be indignant at the very hearing, in that such things were found in the divine oracles, unless it were believed that these things were written — the Holy Spirit dictating — concerning the coming of the Son of God to the human race, and concerning the salvation of faithful souls? But the more harshly the letter drives us back from the carnal and outward understanding, the more sweetly it leads us in to that inward understanding of itself which is lovely to God. Assuredly in this it is believed that by the sevenfold 491Bgrace of the Holy Spirit this book is composed: because all and every one of the sentences that are found in it seem to contain in themselves at the least seven things, namely, 287 the divinity and the humanity of Christ; the conjunction of the Bridegroom and the Bride, that is, of Christ and the Church. And according to the rhetorical flowers, a one-membered or two-membered or three-membered or four-membered sentence. And according to secular men, the disciplines of the seven liberal arts, the three parts of philosophy: logic, ethics, physics, that is, rational, moral, natural — without which parts of philosophy this book cannot be expounded.

Moreover, the title which is set before this little book seems to contain in itself the sense of the whole book. For as the sun, set in heaven, with its rays poured out everywhere and 491Cits wonderful brightness spread abroad, lights up the whole world by its presence, so this title, which is set before this little book, already for the greatest part makes plain to us what this little book means to say, saying: The voice of one desiring the coming of Christ.

It is asked, in this first title — since two persons seem to be brought in, namely Christ's and that of a certain one desiring — why the proper name of that one desiring is not expressed, when the name of Christ is manifestly named? To which it must be said: that if any person whatever were expressed by name or set down properly, the other persons who in this book speak in various ways would perhaps seem to be shut out. But the name of Christ is set down manifestly and without a veil for this reason, that concerning 491Dthe coming of no other, save of the Son of God alone — his coming and incarnation — is the prophecy of this book woven together. Then, besides, some may wonder why Christ, who is the worthier and more excellent person, does not first begin to speak in this book. But a just reason, propped upon authority, demanded this: that the inferior person should speak among the first, and should humbly entreat him, without whom she could not be saved, to come for her deliverance, and should say: Let him kiss me with the kiss of his mouth (Cant. I). The blessed apostle Paul instructs us, saying: Since indeed all the things that befell our fathers, befell them in a figure (I Cor. X). [Vulg. Haec autem omnia in figura contingebant illis, "Now all these things happened to them in figure"]

If therefore among them there was a figure, among us there ought to be the truth. Turning over therefore much Scripture of the Old Testament 492Awithin myself, I sought after the figure of this truth, whether perchance any of the patriarchs, or of the prophets, had anywhere kissed his wife, so that the figure going before might make the one that follows more clearly plain to us. Nevertheless I found this written of no other save of Jacob the patriarch alone. For of him alone it is written that he once kissed his wife, that most famous Rachel, namely, of whom it is doubtful to none that she holds the figure of holy Church. But Jacob, both by the interpretation of his name and by the working of virtue, is discerned to have held the figure of Christ.

For it is written in the book of Genesis (cap. XXIX) that this same patriarch Jacob once was journeying to the eastern land; who, coming to a certain 492Bwell, was speaking with the shepherds of that region; and behold, says the Scripture, Rachel was coming with her flock, for she herself was pasturing her father's flock. When therefore Jacob had known her to be his cousin, he watered her flock and kissed her.

But afterwards Jacob wept, and made known to her that he was her kinsman. Who then is he who journeys to the eastern land, save Christ, of whom the prophet says: Behold a man, the Orient is his name (Zach. VI). And what is the eastern land, save the blessed and everlasting Mother of God, the Virgin Mary, of whom Christ deigned to arise, whom Ezekiel (cap. XI) calls the eastern gate? What did that well prefigure, save the mystical and hidden Scripture which 492Cforetold that Christ was to be born? What, finally, did Rachel's flock signify, which Jacob watered, save the flock of the prophets, which Christ gave to drink of the water of the fountain leaping up unto life everlasting? And what did Jacob's weeping intimate, save the compassion which Christ had upon us when he purposed to die for us? And what is it that holy Jacob makes known to Rachel, that he is her kinsman, save this which the Lord said through the prophet: I will declare thy name to my brethren (Psal. XXI), and in the Gospel: Go, tell my brethren etc. (Matth. XXVIII.) And what does the kiss betoken which Jacob gave to Rachel, save this: that Christ joined to himself the nature of the human race through the mystery of the incarnation? 492Dwhence the same human race in this place says of the same Christ: Let him kiss me with the kiss of his mouth. Let that same one, who once was prefigured by the patriarchs and foretold by the prophets — let him, I say, come, and take unspotted flesh of my nature, and wondrously lead me back to the joys of paradise which I lost through Adam. Let holy Church also say of Christ: Let him kiss me with the kiss of his mouth, that is, let the Word be made flesh; and as of old Eve was fashioned from the sleeping Adam (Gen. II), so let the same Word made flesh (Joan. I) — that is, God made man, dying upon the cross — betroth me to himself as a bride pledged with his own blood. Let blessed Mary also, the mother of Christ, say — let her too, I say, say of Christ: Let him kiss me with the kiss of his mouth, that is: as long ago he promised through Isaiah the prophet, 493Asaying: Behold a virgin shall conceive (Isa. VII), let the Son of God come into me, and of my virgin flesh take a most holy body, that as a bridegroom out of his chamber (Psal. XVIII), so he himself, adorned with the purple cloak of my flesh, may come forth out of my womb. Let every faithful soul also say of Christ: Let him kiss me with the kiss of his mouth, that is: so let him join me to himself by faith and by working in this world, that in eternal happiness 288 I may deserve to be made one spirit with him. Of this kiss of Christ and holy Church, that is, of the mystery of the Incarnation, David says to the prophet: Justice and peace have kissed (Psal. LXXXIV). Join therefore, if it please such a one, the lily to the violet or to the rose: such is the kiss of the Bridegroom and the Bride, of Christ and the Church, that is, the conjunction of the divine and the human nature. 493BLet him kiss me with the kiss of his mouth. In this sentence thou wilt find seven mysteries: of Jacob and Rachel, of God and the human race, of Christ and holy Church, of the Son of God and blessed Mary, of Christ and the faithful soul, of peace and justice, of the lily and the violet.

With the utmost intention and with a pure heart God must be entreated by us, the declaration of whose words gives light and makes manifest spiritual understanding to those who are little ones in malice (I Cor. XIV), so that he may deign to unveil the eyes of our heart, that we may be able to consider the wonders that are in his law. That the author of this book, therefore, is the Holy Spirit, no man of sound wisdom doubts. And that Solomon 493Cwas the instrument of the Holy Spirit at the time when he published this book, no one steeped in ecclesiastical letters is ignorant. For without the grace of the Holy Spirit he could not have brought forth so many and such mysteries of Christ and the Church. Since therefore we hold it settled that the Holy Spirit made this book, it must be asked by us why the same Holy Spirit began the same book from the letter O, or what pleased him in this letter more than in the other letters. Nevertheless, of how great authority and dignity is the mystery of this letter which is O, he himself deigned to show, who laid the name of that same letter upon himself, saying: I am α alpha and ω (Apoc. I), that is, the beginning and the end. I am the beginning, he says, giving to all creatures the beginnings of being. I am the end, 493Dthat is, the consummation; because, when all men fail, I alone remain, since I am God and am in no way subject to mutability; whence the apostle James says: With whom there is no change, nor shadow of alteration (Jacob. I). And that Christ is the end, that is, the consummation, Paul makes plain when he says: The end of the law is Christ, unto justice to everyone that believeth (Rom. X). Finally, if we should wish to search out yet more subtly the mystery of this letter which is O, in no other letter shall we find so great a figure, not only of the whole world, but even of God himself. For it is found round and perfect on every side of itself, just as the world of this age is described by the philosophers as round after the manner of a sphere. Moreover, if according to the Greek letters we look more attentively, 494Awe find that this letter ω is beyond doubt three-membered, that is, having three members. What then do the three members in the one letter ω, looking upward, betoken, save three persons in the substance of the one most high Trinity? Not by chance, therefore, but by a sure mystery of the Godhead does the Holy Spirit begin the opening of this book from the letter ω, because this book through the whole text of itself preaches him who created the whole world out of nothing, and who declares in the Gospel that he himself is one person in the Trinity, saying: I and the Father are one (Joan. X). The three members, therefore, of the letter ω looking toward heaven declare, as we have said above, three persons in one substance of the Trinity. And well do the members of that same letter look upward, and, as though coming down from heaven, make below one letter 494B; because the knowledge of the holy Trinity came down to us through the Lord Jesus, and set its seat for itself in one holy catholic Church through the unity of faith. For which cause the Lord Jesus himself says in the Gospel: And this is life eternal, that they may know thee, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent (Joan. XVII) — it is understood withal: and the Holy Spirit, to be one and true God. [Vulg. ut cognoscant te solum Deum verum, et quem misisti Iesum Christum, "that they may know thee, the only true God"] Assuredly neither do I judge that this is to be passed over carelessly by a prudent reader, that this book takes its opening from a kiss (which is the sign of charity and of peace). For it intimates to us in mystical and open utterances him at whose nativity the angelic multitude cries out: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men of good will (Luc. II). [Vulg. Gloria in altissimis Deo, "Glory to God in the highest"] There is besides another mystery which can yet be said concerning the kiss 494C: that a kiss cannot be made save by two. Two teeth of the same one draw near from opposite sides, they meet in one kiss of peace, and so, with lips joined together, they accomplish the kiss in charity. For the two drawing near from opposite sides and meeting into one ought not unfittingly to be understood as the divinity and the humanity of Christ, which drew very near from opposite sides when the one from heaven and the other from earth met together into the one womb of blessed Mary ever Virgin, and these two natures gave, as it were, a perfect kiss to one another, because they are so inseparably leagued together, the grace of the Holy Spirit working it, that henceforth it must not be said, without peril to faith, that there is God without man, nor man without God; and this is what our same nature seems to say 494Din this our book: Let him kiss me with the kiss of his mouth; as though it should say: I desire that God the Son of God so take me up into the womb of the Virgin — that is, that the Word be made flesh — that he may remain always what he was, true God, and eternally constit me, changed from mortality to immortality, into one person of God and man together with himself [The sentence breaks off in mid-word here: our digitized source ends the paragraph with a truncated verb and supplies nothing further. Recovery would require reading the column on Migne's plate.]

By the authority of Holy Scripture we have learned (Job V) that nothing is done on the earth without a cause, for the reason 289 that we are in the hand of God, both we and our words. Since therefore it stands beyond doubt that, because we are in his hand, both we and our words, it plainly and clearly appears that we cannot speak anything well, unless either with him working together with us, or being permitted by him. Finally, if nothing is said to be done on earth without a cause, neither 495Ado we judge that this at all was done without a reason: that at the beginning of the exposition of this little book we should use lilies and violets and the other flowers. It was plainly worthy that our exposition should take its opening from flowers, since with his help we set ourselves to speak of him who says: I am the flower of the field and the lily of the valleys (Cant. II). For he himself is that wonderful flower who, according to Isaiah the prophet (cap. XI), comes up from the root of Jesse — that is, Christ, who took flesh of the Virgin Mary; and as a flower sweetly fragrant sends forth on every side its most pleasing odor, so he himself scattered the knowledge of his divinity and his humanity throughout the whole world. Moreover, as flowers without human tillage bring forth of themselves honeycombs and honey, so without man's touch did the 495BVirgin Mary bring forth of herself God and man. Let us say, therefore, that this book, which speaks of that wonderful flower, is the flower of flowers, that is, is the flower of the other books, saving that of the highest flower himself, that is, of Christ.

For all the saints are called flowers in holy converse, whence is that word: The just shall flourish like the palm tree, etc. (Psal. XCI.) The just shall flourish like the lily before the Lord. Assuredly all the books of Holy Scripture can be called flowers, for this reason, that they make us to flourish with flowers, that is, with spiritual virtues. Therefore, as Christ is the flower of the other flowers — that is, the honor, the glory and the comeliness of his saints — so this book, which is called the Song of Songs, is, as we said above, saving the Gospel of Christ, the flower of flowers, that is, the flower of the other books. Behold, as we have heard, 495Cthe Bridegroom, that is, Christ, calls himself in this book a lily; and this because in almost all places of the sacred oracles the lily signifies virginity and chastity and cleanness. And since he himself was a virgin and the son of a Virgin, therefore above all in his Gospel, among the rest of the virtues, he commended chastity to us, saying: Let our loins be girded (Luc. XXII.) [Vulg. Luc. XII, 35 Sint lumbi vestri praecincti, "let your loins be girded"] As though he should say: Since you do not doubt that I am a lover of virginity, of chastity and of cleanness, see that in thought, in speech and in work you keep that chastity which is pleasing to me above all virtues. Moreover, finally, I was also nourished in Nazareth, which is interpreted flower, because that soul delightfully feeds and nourishes me with pious works, which breathes virginity 495D, burns with chastity, loves cleanness.

As, therefore, by the lily the Bridegroom, the same Christ, can be understood in this book, so also by the flower of the violet his Bride, that is, holy Church, ought to be interpreted. And rightly by this flower, namely the violet, which is of a purple or airy color, is the loving Mother Church betokened, who without ceasing exhorts her sons to the glorious contests of the martyrs and to the joys on high of everlasting blessedness. By the purple color, then, is taken the glory of martyrdom; by the airy, the happy and glorious expectation of the kingdom of God. But neither does it seem that this should be passed over in silence, that the same flower, namely the violet, is described as being of a tempering nature, so much so that it can heal those whom the immoderate ardor of the flesh wearies beyond their strength. 496AWhich assuredly ought elegantly to be assigned to holy Church, who applies to her sons, wounded by the harassment of temptations of every kind, the poultices of loving confession and penance; whence also every one of the faithful ought to say to his mother the Church: According to the multitude of my temptations in my heart, thy consolations have gladdened my soul. [Vulg. Psal. XCIII, 19 dolorum meorum, "of my sorrows"]

With abounding memory, in the delight of the Holy Spirit, we ought to call to mind that in the earlier part of this book we spoke of the journey of Jacob the patriarch to the Eastern land, and (in so far as the Holy Spirit at that time supplied us with strength) the poverty of our wit discussed that same Jacob and the Eastern land by interpreting them in an allegorical sense. It remains, 496Btherefore, that we go over it again in like manner, and — not as is worthy, but as the thinness of our understanding can in some fashion take it in — seek out the sweetly fragrant flowers of a second allegory. For the divine page is a certain field overflowing with flowers, in which the faithful soul ought to take delight, gathering the various flowers of allegory, that is, meditating upon the spiritual senses. Whence David the prophet says: Delight thou in the Lord, and he will give thee the petitions of thy heart (Psal. XXXVI.) The Eastern land, therefore, is justly called the heavenly Jerusalem, namely the dwelling of the citizens on high, of which the Psalmist says: My portion in the land of the living (Psal. CXLI.) To which land whoever shall be able to come by working well shall not taste death any more; because then every holy man is born again in God by an eternal birth, when his temporal life is ended by a 496Cconditional death. For this cause an elegant custom has grown up in holy Church, that we proclaim the birthdays of the saints then, when we learn that they have passed out of this light. Who then is that Jacob, who is interpreted wrestler, save our spirit 290, upon whom a wrestling against spiritual wickednesses is enjoined without interval? Let our Jacob, therefore, journey to the land of the East, that is, let our spirit hasten with the steps of good working to the land of promise: to which land of promise Paul was sighing, when he said: Let us hasten to enter into that rest (Hebr. IV). But as we hasten toward the heavenly Jerusalem, a well which is closed with a great stone meets us, because, as David the prophet says: The judgments of God are a great 496Ddeep (Psal. XXXV). [Vulg. Psal. XXXV, 7 judicia tua, "thy judgments"] With whom Solomon agrees: All things, he says, are reserved uncertain for man after death (Eccle. IX). [Vulg. Eccle. IX, 2 sed omnia in futurum servantur incerta, "but all things are kept uncertain for the time to come"] But what do we say that this well is, which is closed with a great stone, save the hidden and terrible counsel of God, which is in no wise made manifest until the day of judgment? At which the prophet, in dread, says: Come and see the works of God, terrible in his counsels over the sons of men (Psal. LXV). And what do the shepherds there with their flocks signify, who lie down about the well, save the faithful souls both of prelates and of subjects, who await the judgment of God? Whence it is well said that, when the shepherds had been gathered together with their flocks, then the stone was removed from the mouth of the well, and so the sheep were watered: because, when all men come to the judgment of God, his terrible counsel, 497Awhich is now hidden, shall be made manifest. Then at last shall the sheep be watered with the water of the unsealed well, when every man shall be damned or saved according to the just judgment of the hidden counsel of God: Go, ye cursed, into everlasting fire which is prepared (Matt. XXV); [Vulg. Matth. XXV, 41 Discedite a me maledicti in ignem aeternum, qui paratus est diabolo, "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, which was prepared for the devil"] but to those who shall be on the right hand: Come, ye blessed of my Father, receive the kingdom (ibid.) [Vulg. Matth. XXV, 34 possidete paratum vobis regnum, "possess the kingdom prepared for you"] And so in a wonderful and unspeakable manner shall Jacob know again the face of his kinswoman Rachel, when our spirit shall look upon the contemplative life in the heavens, for which it long sighed while yet set upon the earth. And thence it is that Rachel is interpreted a beginning seen, because then not in a riddle nor through a glass, but face to face (I Cor. XIII) shall our spirit contemplate God himself. But the kiss which Jacob gave to Rachel 497Bwe can interpret under that saying of the Lord in which it is said: Father, I will that, as I and thou are one, so they also may be one in us (Joan. XVIII). [Vulg. Joan. XVII, 21 ut omnes unum sint, sicut tu Pater in me, et ego in te, ut et ipsi in nobis unum sint, "that they all may be one, as thou, Father, in me, and I in thee"] Clearer than light, therefore, it stands, that when one gives to another the kiss of peace, without the setting of any thing between, he joins mouth to mouth with a charitable affection. Hence it is that the blessed John says: We are the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like to him, because we shall see him as he is (Joan. III). [Vulg. I Joan. III, 2 nondum apparuit, "it hath not yet appeared"] There shall not be, therefore, between the Creator and the creature any opposition; otherwise it would not be true and perfect blessedness.

497CComing to morality, and desiring to discourse of morality, we must be men of good manners; for neither can we say anything elegantly of the manners of men, unless in some part we have been instructed or adorned with manners. We said above (unless perchance it has slipped from our mind) that this book takes its beginning from perfection, that is, from the letter O, which signifies perfection. Which letter, according to the Latins, as the philosophers say, intimates in itself the form of the whole world; and, formed according to the Greeks, represents to us, after its little measure, the holy Trinity. Thou, therefore, who readest or hearest this book, be zealous for perfection, be busy to be perfect. Hear not me, but the Lord saying in the Gospel: Be 497Dye perfect, as your Father also is perfect who is in the heavens (Matth. V.) [Vulg. Matth. V, 48 Estote ergo vos perfecti, sicut et Pater vester caelestis perfectus est, "Be you therefore perfect, as also your heavenly Father is perfect"] Nevertheless thou shalt in no wise be able to be perfect, unless, iniquity being put away, thou hast perfectly cleaved to that highest perfection which is God. Which perfection assuredly David desired, who said: But for me it is good to cleave to God (Psal. LXXII.) Perfectly, therefore, canst thou be perfect, if thou believest and holdest in thy heart the faith of the holy Trinity, and fulfillest that same faith with good works. Perfectly, I say, shalt thou present thyself perfect to God in the day of judgment, if in this world, so far as thou art able, thou keepest thyself free from all sin. But since, as the blessed Gregory says, a good work avails nothing without chastity, as neither does chastity avail anything without a good work, therefore rightly indeed in our recapitulation let the lilies follow, they signify virginity 498Aand chastity and cleanness. There are, moreover, certain men who are virgins and chaste, but are not clean, because they are insolently proud of the keeping of their virginity or chastity. For Eve, our first parent, was indeed in body a virgin and chaste, but she stood forth unclean in mind, because she obeyed the devil promising falsehoods rather than God threatening truly. Thence the Holy Scripture says: He that exalteth his heart is clean before God; nor does it profit anything to be a virgin and chaste in body, if one has been unchaste in mind. [Vulg. Prov. XVI, 5 abominatio Domini est omnis arrogans; the maxim as commonly cited runs immundus est coram Deo omnis qui exaltat cor suum, "unclean before God"] Let there flower again in us, therefore, the spiritual lilies, namely the marks of virginity and of chastity and of cleanness of heart, so that, made chaste in body and soul, we may deserve to be marked with that evangelical blessing by which those are ennobled to whom it is said by the Lord: Blessed 498Bare the clean of heart, for they themselves 291 shall see God (Matth. V.) Whence deservedly the violets follow in the order of the recapitulation, which shine again with an airy brightness, because those keep chastity well who through the observance of it seek to come to the glory of the heavenly kingdom. But the other flowers which in this exposition are not expressed by a special name fittingly intimate the remaining virtues, by which the aforesaid virtues are adorned. For without humility, obedience, charity, patience, long-suffering, perseverance, prudence, and discretion, which is the mother of all the virtues, no man can hold fast perfection, nor perfectly possess peace or concord (which are betokened by the kiss of the Bridegroom and the Bride).

498CIn the old law the Holy Scripture teaches us (Levit. I) that he who offers to God from the flock a ram, or any animal fit for sacrifices, should first draw off the skin, secondly bring the flesh to the sacred fires, thirdly offer the fat and those things which are veiled by the fat as a holocaust to the Lord. For the ram or the heifer is any sentence whatever taken out of the Old Testament. From which sentence we draw off, as it were, the skin, when, handling the historical understanding, we establish it to be true. And the flesh is then delivered to the sacred fires, when the allegory, understood in spiritual senses, is made clear. But the fat, and those things which are beneath, we judge that we offer to God, when we search out the morality, and those things which hang upon manners, for the profit of the souls of the faithful and for 498Dthe praise of God himself. Since, therefore, in the earlier treatise we interpreted the historical Jacob in an allegorical and spiritual sense, we have, as it were, with the skin drawn off, burned up the flesh with sacred fire. It remains, therefore, that we bring the fat to the divine fire, that is, that we bring forth into the light the morality with a moral and loftier understanding. Our flesh indeed is then made the Eastern land, when in it the vices are mortified and the spiritual virtues arise. Which land assuredly the spiritual Jacob, that is, Christ, will deign to visit, if it shall be such as to be held worthy of his visitation. But that well to which the historical Jacob came signified our heart; which, if it shall perfectly have loved God and kept his word, Christ will come to it and will abide in it, whence he himself in the Gospel 499Asays: If any man love me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him, and will make our abode with him (Joan. XIV). And the stone with which the well is closed is rightly understood as the hardness of our heart. Which hardness indeed the Lord lovingly promises that he will take away from us, when he says through Ezekiel the prophet (cap. XI et XXXVI): I will take away from you the stony heart, and I will give you a heart of flesh, and I will cause you to walk in my precepts. [Vulg. Ezech. XXXVI, 26 auferam cor lapideum de carne vestra, "I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh"] The three flocks of sheep with their shepherds which are found by Jacob beside the well are the three kinds of thoughts which turn about our heart. For in our thoughts we for the most part remember the evils which we have done; the present we guard against with God's help; and for the things to come, lest they overwhelm us and sink us down, we entreat God. And well 499Bindeed does the history relate that, when the stone was removed, those flocks were watered; because, when the hardness of our heart has been taken away, the aforesaid thoughts are made drunk with spiritual compunction and with the healthful bedewing of tears. And the shepherds who guard the aforesaid sheep are faith, hope, charity. which nourish our simple thoughts. It is clear, therefore, that he who mourns for past sins, guards against present ones, and fears for those to come by entreating, shows himself in every way free from all sin. So at last he returns to that virtue which is called sinlessness, in which God created the first man after his own image. Finally, the history describes with an elegant style how indeed there Jacob knew again his cousin Rachel; because without doubt the creature is then more perfectly known again by its Creator 499C, when, according to his power, a man keeps himself from sin. Whence deservedly Rachel is interpreted a sheep or a beginning seen, because so plainly does the creature return to the beginning of its creation, when through simplicity and sinlessness, without the blemish of sin, it is presented to its Creator. But the weeping with which Jacob wept when he saw Rachel signifies the unspeakable joy and the incomprehensible jubilation which God, appearing, will give to his faithful ones. For very often we are wont to weep for exceeding joy, just as this Jacob, when he recognized his cousin Rachel, is known to have wept for exultation. But the kiss which Jacob gives to Rachel betokens that unity by which we shall be united to God himself. Of which unity indeed the apostle Paul seems to me to speak: He that cleaveth to God is made one spirit 499Dwith him (I Cor. VI). [Vulg. I Cor. VI, 17 Qui autem adhaeret Domino, unus spiritus est, "but he who cleaveth to the Lord is one spirit"] Moreover, this which the history does not pass over — that Jacob made known to Rachel that he was her kinsman — we can not unfittingly interpret thus: that, the judgment being ended, we shall know again our own substance in our Creator, which long since, having pity on us, he took up, when he willed to be born of the blessed Virgin Mary.

Concerning Isaac the patriarch the text of the history has told to our ears how of old he commanded his servants to dig a well. And they, digging deeper, found water abundantly, and therefore called that well Abundance. For what did that well 500Awhich the servants of Isaac dug set forth, save the Old Testament, which, before it was expounded by the doctors, remained shut up by a barrier of earth? Let us therefore dig this well with a spiritual hoe, and without doubt we shall find abounding waters, that is, the spiritual senses. In the preceding treatise we spoke above of Jacob allegorically and morally; but now let us return by a spiritual road to the same Jacob, and let us seek out in him a second morality with a loftier understanding. Which morality is here and there intermingled with certain allegorical flowers, lest it be judged by prudent and vigorous men to be uncultivated. Behold thyself, O man, and, when thou art considered, thou shalt find in thyself, by a figure, the whole world, and — that I may speak more boldly — if thou hast lived well, thy very Creator himself. If, 500Btherefore, man is of so great dignity that he holds in himself, in a certain manner, the likeness not only of the whole world, but even of God himself — for man was made to the image and likeness of God (Gen. I) — it ought not to seem absurd to any if we wish to interpret our spirit or soul, by alternating turns, now as Jacob, now as the Eastern land.

Let us say that our spirit is itself the Eastern land, and meanwhile the spiritual Jacob. For as the historical Jacob wrestled with the Angel and prevailed against him; and as the allegorical Jacob, that is, Christ, triumphing over death and the devil, overcame them on the wood of his cross; so the moral Jacob, that is, our spirit, ought to crucify to itself this world, and to fight against itself, so that, ruling over its own mind, 500Cstronger as the stormer of cities. Crucify to himself the world, I say, must the spiritual man, that he may be able to say with the apostle Paul: The world is crucified to me, and I to the world (Galat. VI). He must, I say, labour beyond his strength, the inward man, that he may overcome vineat himself and the world, quickened by the example of the Lord Jesus, who says: Have confidence, for I have overcome the world (Joan. XVI). Nor let him strive with less than the utmost care, that he may be able to be made the Eastern land, out of which the vices are ceaselessly rooted up, and in which the spiritual virtues arise. And the way of the spiritual Jacob, that is, of our spirit, ought rightly to be understood as Christ, who says: I am the way (Joan. XIV). The way, I say, which leads straight to God, is simple obedience itself. Whence also, according to the history, Jacob was obeying his mother Rebecca 500Dwhen he was going upon that way of which we speak. There is, therefore, no straighter way than obedience; and there is no true and straight obedience save in him who said: I am the truth and the life (ibid.). That place to which Jacob is reported to have come at his first lodging, that is, the house of God, or Luz, is interpreted the nut of Beth-el or the almond. Let our spirit, therefore, intent upon assiduous prayers, be made the house of God, because the Lord says thus: My house shall be called the house of prayer (Matth. XXI). Nevertheless, let him who desires to be made the house of God not refuse to become a nut or an almond. For neither can our spirit be the dwelling-place of God without fortitude and patience, long-suffering and prudence; which the hardest and almost unconquerable shell of these fruits signifies. And that Jacob 501Awilled to rest after the setting of the sun signifies that our spirit then perfectly rests in God, when it mortifies and kills in itself everything that belongs to sin. And the stones which he gathered and put under his head betoken the examples of the saints, which, laying them up in our head, that is, in our mind, and living according to them, we perfectly despise the world. And that the saints are called stones, the apostle Peter testifies, who says: And you, as living stones, be built up into a dwelling-place of the Holy Spirit (I Petr. II). [Vulg. I Petr. II, 5 superaedificamini domus spiritualis, "be built up a spiritual house"] Nor is it any wonder, indeed, since the Lord Jesus himself is called in David (Psal. CXVII) the corner stone, and in Daniel: A stone cut out of the mountain without hands (Dan. II). Jacob's falling asleep sets forth that we ought perfectly to renounce 501Bthe world and to cleave to Christ; or it signifies the contemplation of the highest Godhead and the forgetting of all worldly vanity. The ladder standing upon two pieces of wood, which Jacob saw in the heights, whose top pierced the secret places of heaven, is the two Testaments, which teach and instruct us, and lead us through to the knowledge of the divine majesty. Whence the history says well, that Jacob saw the Lord leaning upon the top of the ladder. For by no reasoning can we come to the Lord himself, unless, after our little measure, we have spiritually fulfilled the commandments of the two Testaments. O how great is the clemency of our Redeemer What then did God's leaning upon the top of the ladder prefigure, save his own coming down for the redemption of the human race, which even then from that 501Ctime he was already in some manner preparing? That stone which Jacob, when his sleep was done, anointed before the other stones, signified Christ, filled before all the saints with the charisms of the Holy Spirit.

293 Of which spiritual anointing and incomprehensible pouring-in of the Holy Spirit, David the prophet speaks to the Son of God: Because thou hast loved justice and hast held iniquity in hatred, therefore God thy Father hath anointed thee with the oil of jubilation above all thy saints (Psal. XLIV). [Vulg. Psal. XLIV, 8 unxit te Deus, Deus tuus, oleo laetitiae prae consortibus tuis, "God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows"] And the stone which Jacob anointed and set up for a title signifies that Christ, through the mystery of the Incarnation, was to obtain in holy Church the place of the pontifical dignity, and to possess throughout the whole world the sceptres of royal authority. Whence deservedly 501DJacob says: That truly the Lord is in this place (Gen. XXVIII), because outside the catholic Church no one can be saved, nor please God. Moreover, if we wish to interpret this ladder according to morality, not unfittingly do we understand by its two pieces of wood faith and hope, which as it were take us up upon the earth and, lifting us up, bring us in even to the secret places of heaven. For in this world faith and hope are necessary to us, which in the heavens shall have no work (Rom. VIII); because, as the Scripture says, God, in whom we believe and hope, and whom we await through patience, in the world to come as he is we shall see (I Joan. III), and therefore we have no further need of faith and hope. The rungs which are set into the two pieces of wood of this ladder can be understood as the remaining virtues, without which faith and 502Ahope stand utterly useless. For as our body dies without the soul, so faith without works, James bearing witness, is called dead (Jacob. II). And therefore rightly indeed after faith and hope charity follows in the order, which is divided into two, that is, into the love of God and of neighbour. For he who only believes in God or hopes in him, and yet neither loves God himself, nor loves his neighbour for God's sake, and moreover refuses to work that which is good, it plainly appears that he stands like the demons. Of whom the apostle James says: The demons believe and tremble (ibid.). Let us set, therefore, as the first rung of this ladder which leads to heaven, humility, the love of God and of neighbour, good thoughts, better speech, best works, chastity of body and of soul, cleanness 502Bof heart, brotherly peace, concord, confession, penance, bodily discipline, fasts, vigils, prayers, exercises of the body for God's sake, and spiritual meditations in the law of God, contempt of the world, disdain of our body, spiritual desires; and at the top of this ladder let us set obedience, because it is she who leads us to the contemplation of the majesty on high. For thus the Holy Scripture says of obedience: Through obedience they come to the knowledge of the hidden things of God (II Cor. II). Let our spirit ascend, therefore, by this ladder: From virtue to virtue, until it see God, downward in Sion, reigning (Psal. LXXXIII). [Vulg. Psal. LXXXIII, 8 videbitur Deus deorum in Sion, "the God of gods shall be seen in Sion"] For this cause, finally, the Lord also seems to be leaning upon obedience, which is set at the top of this ladder, because through obedience 502Che was disposing to reconcile the human race to himself, and, according to the apostle Paul (Coloss. I), to make peace by a spiritual concord between the things that are in heaven and the things that are on earth; whence the same Paul says: Christ was made obedient to the Father unto death (Philipp. II). [Vulg. Philipp. II, 8 factus obediens usque ad mortem, without Patri] And in another place: From those things which he suffered, though he was the Son of God, he learned obedience (Hebr. V). And that Jacob, awaking, says: Truly the Lord is in this place (Gen. XXVIII), plainly declares that God then truly dwells in our heart, if our spirit shall have perfectly possessed the aforesaid ladder in itself, and our mind, the vanities of the world being spurned, shall have fallen asleep in the love of God with a sweet slumber. Indeed we can morally be the anointed stone, if we have received the anointing from the Holy Spirit, as those received it to whom John 502Dthe apostle was saying: And you have received the anointing from the Holy Spirit, and you have no need that any man teach you, because his anointing teacheth you concerning all things (II Joan. II). [Vulg. I Joan. II, 27 Et vos unctionem, quam accepistis ab eo, maneat in vobis, "and as for you, let the unction which you have received from him abide in you"] And the field in which the well is found by Jacob is not unfittingly understood as our spirit or soul, if only it shall have been filled with the fragrant sweetness of spiritual flowers, as was he who said: We are the good odour of Christ (II Cor. II). But the well in this place ought to be understood as the Holy Spirit, of whom in the Gospel the Lord Jesus was saying: If any man thirst, let him come to me and drink, and out of his belly shall flow living waters. Now this he said of the Holy Spirit, whom they that believed in him were to receive (Joan. VII). [Vulg. Joan. VII, 38 Qui credit in me, sicut dicit Scriptura, flumina de ventre eius fluent aquae vivae, "He that believeth in me, as the Scripture saith, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water"]

He himself, I say, the Holy Spirit, is the fountain of gardens, 503Athe well of living waters which flow with a rush from Libanus (Cant. IV) — that is, the holiness, the refreshment, the purification, the cleansing, the joy and the jubilation of the faithful souls which desire to be with Christ. Let our soul labour, therefore, that it may possess this well within itself, that is, let it be busy by good works to become the dwelling-place of the Holy Spirit. Nevertheless the waters of this well, which are said to flow from Libanus, betoken this: that the Holy Spirit is not possessed save with a chaste body and a purified heart. Whence also the same mount Libanus is interpreted a whitening. And that the well is reported to have been closed with a great stone declares in elegant speech that in a body subject to sins the Holy Spirit in no wise dwelleth (Sap. I). For the stone is the huge mass of our crimes, which without 503Bdoubt hides the Holy Spirit from us, that he be not seen. Whence also the prophet says: The hand of the Lord is not powerless 504Ato save, but our sins have made a wall between you and God (Isa. LIX). [Vulg. Isa. LIX, 1–2 Ecce non est abbreviata manus Domini ut salvare nequeat... sed iniquitates vestrae diviserunt inter vos et Deum vestrum, "your iniquities have divided between you and your God"] But neither is this to be passed over through negligence, which Wisdom says: For the Holy Spirit of discipline shall flee what is feigned (Sap. I). Let the wall of our crimes, therefore, or the millstone, be removed, and let spiritual discipline be sought and held fast by us; that is, let us confess our sins 294, and let us put ourselves under spiritual chastisement, that we may be able to be the most holy dwelling of the Holy Spirit. Let our spirit be, I say, a field blooming with every kind of flower of the virtues; let there be found in it by Jacob a well pouring forth healthful streams, that is, let the Holy Spirit be found by Christ dwelling there. Whose presence will be clearly made manifest thus, if in all things we shall be meek and humble and peaceable 504B, and shall abound in the fruits of good working with chastity and sobriety.

503Here ends the first Tome, that is, the first volume upon the Song of Songs.

503BBut that those things which follow in this book may shine out to us more clearly, it is needful that what precedes in this book should not depart from our memory. For thus says 503Cblessed Jerome: For the divine discourse cleaves to itself in turn, and what follows hangs upon what goes before. For just as the manna which once came down from heaven to earth was one thing and signified another, so without doubt the divine utterances show one thing outwardly and hide another within. For that manna which God rained upon the children of Israel was bodily food, yet spiritually it signified the flesh of Christ, who says in the Gospel: My flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed (Joan. VI). Of which blood indeed the dew held the figure, which came down from heaven together with the manna. As therefore the Israelites, gathering the manna (Num. XI), ground it in a mill, and having bread therefrom, prepared for themselves every delight and every sweetness; 503Dso the sons of spiritual grace and the enemies of the killing letter ought to break open and to ruminate Holy Scripture with spiritual senses, and thence to serve out spiritual food to their hearers. Let us not therefore be of the servants of Abraham, who, remaining at the foot of the mountain, keep the ass; but let us go up with Abraham and Isaac into the high mountain, that we may be able to see the Angel, and the ram clinging by its horns among the briers (Gen. XXII). Who then are they who, remaining at the foot of the mountain, keep the ass, but they who in the sacred utterance do not seek the spiritual and higher sense? For it is as it were the part of a brute beast to keep watch beside the mountain — to be unwilling to seek the allegorical and moral sense in the divine letters. But the Angel who appeared to Abraham on the mountain after he had left the ass signifies the allegory which makes itself known more fully to those whom the historical 504Bunderstanding does not hold back from the ascent of spiritual intelligence. And well is the same Angel, who is set for a figure of allegory, reported to have cried out from heaven, because spiritual allegory always 504Cpreaches the mysteries of the Church and the heavenly sacraments. But the ram which clung by its horns among the briers signified, not unfittingly, morality, which hangs upon the roughness of the letter. Whence well is the same ram said not to have been fixed fast, nor bound, among the briers, because morality is either rarely or never fully found by experience within the sequence of the letter, but is as a ram clinging by its horns among briers; and so morality itself is prudently drawn off, by prudent and lettered men, from the history itself to which it subtly cleaves. Let us consider therefore how reasonably the Bride makes an apostrophe to the Bridegroom, that is, how holy Church turns to Christ and says: For this cause have I desired thy coming. that is, thy kiss, because thy breasts are better than wine. We can in this place, with sound understanding, 504Dunderstand the two breasts of Christ to be his mercy and his clemency, in such wise at least that mercy be attributed to his humanity, and clemency to his divinity. Whence the prophet Jonas says (cap. IV) to the Lord: I know, O Lord, that thou art clement and merciful [Vulg. Jon. 4:2 Scio enim quia tu Deus clemens et misericors es, "for I know that thou art a God clement and merciful"]; as if he should say: I know for certain that thou, who now art made known to all as God only, it shall come to pass that, our humanity being taken up, thou shalt be made man for us. Moreover, by the wine, which is known to be of a harsher savour, the severe justice of the Mosaic law is not undeservedly understood. Let the Bride therefore say to the Bridegroom, that is, the Church to Christ: For this cause have I desired thy coming, because thy breasts are better than wine, which is to say: Better is thy clemency and mercy than the severe and unmerciful justice of the ancient law. Finally, if spiritually by the two breasts of the Bridegroom which are in the divine page we understand allegory and 505Amorality, and by the wine, the history, we in no way stray from the true sense. Let us also say with the Bride to the Bridegroom: Thy breasts are better than wine, that is, sweeter is morality and allegory than the for the most part hard and unreasonable understanding of the history. Otherwise: Thy breasts are better than wine. For the two breasts of God were the law and the prophets, which slew those they suckled. Whence Paul says: The law worketh wrath, (that is, death) and the law brought nothing to perfection (Rom. IV) [Vulg. Rom. 4:15 lex enim iram operatur; the second clause, nihil ad perfectum adduxit lex, is Hebr. 7:19]. Of these breasts Isaias says: Whom shall he teach 295 knowledge, and whom shall he make to understand the hearing? them that are weaned from the milk, torn away from the breasts (Isa. XXIX); as if he should say: Christ will teach that spiritual knowledge and the hearing of his Gospel to him who shall utterly remove from himself the carnal and tasteless senses of the law and the prophets. 505B

Of these breasts David says: From the breasts of my mother I was cast upon thee (Psal. XXI) [Vulg. Ps. 21:10–11 divides these words: spes mea ab uberibus matris meae. In te projectus sum ex utero]; which is to say: I forsook the killing letter and the Jewish understanding of the law, and came forthwith to thee, who art the highest truth of the law. The law therefore and the prophets are in this place the breasts of God, but the wine is the Gospel, of which Christ says: New wine into new bottles (Matth. IX), that is, into the apostles, must be put. Christ himself is the cluster, the wine is the Gospel. As from the cluster wine proceeds, so Christ founded the Gospel. Which is well prefigured in the history which relates that once two men carried upon their shoulders, on a staff, a cluster with its branch out of the land of promise (Num. XIII). Those two men bearing on the staff the cluster with the branch 505Care the two peoples who slew Christ upon the cross: the Jews crying, Crucify him (Luc. XXIII; Joan. XIX), and the Gentiles who set him upon the cross. Let the Bride therefore say to the Bridegroom, the Church to Christ: Thy breasts are better than wine, that is, the utterances of the law and the prophets, tempered and bedewed with the grace of evangelical preaching, are greatly bettered, that is, made sweeter and better. For the law said: If any man shall have committed this or that sin, let him die (Exod. XXI). But the Gospel cries: If any man shall have sinned, let him confess, let him do penance, and he shall not die. Greatly therefore are thy breasts bettered, that is, made sweeter. Fragrant with the best ointments. Ointments are compounded of divers spices sweetly smelling. Let us seek therefore 505Dthese ointments. John the apostle says: You have an unction from the Holy Spirit, and his unction teacheth you of all things (I Joan. II) [Vulg. I Joan. 2:20 vos unctionem habetis a Sancto, "from the Holy One"]. Let us see finally the ointment which was set upon the head of Aaron, and ran down upon his beard. Aaron signified Christ, and his beard the apostles, who, as a beard, clung more familiarly than the other saints to their head, Christ. The ointment therefore set upon the head of Aaron and running down upon his beard are the divers gifts of the Holy Spirit coming down from Christ upon his apostles.

Filled with these ointments Paul said: We are the good odour of Christ in every place (II Cor. II) [Vulg. II Cor. 2:15 Christi bonus odor sumus Deo, "unto God"; in omni loco belongs to v. 14]. And elsewhere: We give thanks to God, who hath manifested the odour of his knowledge by us in every place (ibid.) [Vulg. II Cor. 2:14 Deo autem gratias... et odorem notitiae suae manifestat per nos in omni loco, present manifestat]. By these ointments therefore, that is, by the gifts of the Holy Spirit and by the apostolic teachings, 506Athe breasts of the Bridegroom, anointed and smoothed — that is, the prophets and the law, tempered with the new wine of the Gospel — are made far more fragrant, that is, more odorous, than they were before. Strive therefore, O hearer, thou who hearest and readest what the breasts of the Bridegroom are; strive, I say, thou also to have breasts of thine own, such as Peter and Paul had, of whom the one said: I gave you milk to drink (I Cor. III). But the other said: As newborn babes, desire ye milk (I Petr. II). If therefore thou askest what these breasts are, I answer: They are the two precepts of charity, the love of God and of neighbour, that thou love God above all things, and thy neighbour as thyself. But these breasts they have not who love the world, because the more closely they are joined to it, the further they withdraw from God. Let these therefore hear the apostle James crying terribly: 506BWhosoever shall will to be a friend of this world, shall be made an enemy of God (Jac. IV).

Above, by the inbreathing grace of the Holy Spirit, we said beforehand, and through the ears of the body poured into the minds of our hearers, that that manna which God once rained from heaven upon the children of Israel truly held the figure and image of the body of Christ. But perhaps there are now some who will say — either such as this opinion will not please, or such as are filled with a spiritual and higher intelligence: This opinion will breed loathing, in that we have strayed exceedingly from the divine understanding, we who have made a corruptible thing, namely the manna, equal to an incorruptible thing, namely the body of Christ. Assuredly, if they disdain to give credit to our words, let them see and consider 506Cwhat in Exodus the text of the history utters to us even when we are silent: It appeared, he says, in the wilderness small, and as it were beaten with a pestle, like unto the hoar frost upon the earth. And when the children of Israel had seen it, they said one to another: Manhu, which signifieth. What is this? For they knew not what it was. And Moses said to them: This is the bread which the Lord hath given you to eat (Exod. XVI). Let us see therefore whether perchance we may anywhere find Christ called bread. The Lord himself says in the Gospel: I am the living bread which came down from heaven; if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever; and the bread which I will give is my flesh for the life of the world (Joan. VI). Behold how fitly the Old and the New Testament agree together. 506DWhat therefore Moses calls manna and heavenly bread, this the Lord in the Gospel calls bread coming down from heaven, and his own flesh. Nevertheless, the tumult of secular thoughts being for a little while removed from us, let us consider why the Holy Spirit says through them to Moses the prophet that it appeared small. Then, why the same manna is described to have been beaten with a pestle; and for what cause also it is reported to have lain upon the earth like unto the hoar frost. For if, according to the nature of the grammarian's 296 art, we look subtly upon this part, namely minutum, we find without doubt that minutum is said from the verb which is minuo, minuis. Not therefore by chance, but by a sure sacrament of reason, is the manna described to have been minutum, because it bore the figure of the body of Christ, of whom the prophet David speaks to God 507Athe Father, saying: Thou hast made him a little less than the angels, thou hast crowned him with glory and honour, and hast set him over the works of thy hands (Psal. VIII). Not undeservedly therefore is it related that the manna, appearing from above, is found small upon the earth, because that supernal Majesty of the Only-begotten Son made itself exceedingly small when it came down to bear the injuries of our mortality, and, taking the form of a servant, according to the word of Paul the apostle emptied itself (Philip. II). Much, I say, was that manna fortified, when the Creator of heaven and earth and of all things lay hidden among men without the esteem of any dignity. Exceedingly, I say, did that manna appear fortified, when from his own creatures the Creator of the human race endured so many reproaches. Whence in the book of Exodus 507Bit follows that the same heavenly manna is seen as it were beaten with a pestle. Which indeed most plainly agrees with the humanity of Christ, which, as we have already said before, bore so many dishonourings and so many revilings from perficis men. Much indeed was this spiritual manna beaten with a pestle when the body of Christ was smeared with spittle, grievously handled with scourges, dishonoured with a crown of mocking honour, and moreover held by all for a laughing-stock. With the pestle, I say, of the dread passion was the spiritual manna beaten through, when the soldier's lance pierced the side of Christ, and the hardness of the nails bored through his hands and feet. It must therefore be confessed, all ambiguity being removed, that Christ was true God and true man, whose image or figure that ancient manna held. Without doubt he was man 507Cwho, bearing the pain of the passion, died, and commended his spirit into the hand of God the Father, saying: Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit (Luc. XXIII). For he was true God, and the Son of God not adoptive but consubstantial and coeternal, who said in the Gospel: I have power to lay down my soul, and to take it up again (Joan. X). But that the same manna had the likeness of hoar frost in no wise drives us back from the divine and mystical understanding, but rather subtly leads us in to understand a truth of such depth. It is clear to almost all men who use human reason that hoar frost is nothing else but water bound fast by frost, which appears chiefly at that season when the sun grows somewhat cool from the fervour of its own 507Dburning, and the wintry air congeals with the roughness of its cold the water which it finds upon the earth. For this cause therefore, as we judge, did the manna appear upon the earth like unto hoar frost, that it might intimate to us the hardness or the unbelief of the Jewish people. Whence in the Gospel it is written: It was the feast of the dedication at Jerusalem, and it was winter (ibid). The Jews therefore surrounded Christ, saying: How long dost thou take away our soul: If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly (ibid.). It stands therefore clearer than light that the cold and torpor of unbelief held their hearts, who busied themselves to entrap Christ with snares, and refused to believe in him who had come for their own salvation, as though they knew not who he was. Indeed, to intimate the hardness of the hearts of the Jews 508Athe evangelist says that it was winter when the Jews said to the Lord Jesus: If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. Whence well does it follow in Exodus that when the children of Israel had seen the manna they said: Manhu, which signifieth. What is this? For they knew not what it was. For behold, the fathers in the wilderness, seeing the manna, say: What is this? But their sons, seeing him whose figure that manna held, say: If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. Who therefore, filled with so great wonder, would not deservedly be astounded, when the ancient law and the new preaching of the Gospel cry one and the same thing? But concerning the Jews under the old law the text of the history relates that they were utterly ignorant what the manna was. And concerning their sons Paul the apostle, that excellent preacher of the new law, says: For if they had known Jesus 508Bthe Lord, they would never have crucified the King of glory (I Cor. II) [Vulg. I Cor. 2:8 si enim cognovissent, nunquam Dominum gloriae crucifixissent, "the Lord of glory"]. There remains therefore even to this day among the faithless Jews the ignorance of Manhu, but there remains among faithful Christians an unstained faith and knowledge of the Lord Jesus. Let the Jews at last ask Moses what Manhu is; let Moses answer them: This is the bread which the Lord hath given you from heaven to eat.

But let us, our own questioning laid to rest, receive with the intent ear of the heart what the Lord said in the Gospel to the Jews: Your fathers did eat manna in the desert, and are dead (Joan. VI). But why are they dead? Because of that manna they believed nothing else than what they saw with bodily eyes. And in like manner their sons also, stricken with their fathers' unbelief and blindness, 508Cjudged Christ to be man only, and disdained to believe him true God and true Son of God.

It stands therefore for certain that both the fathers and the sons were condemned by a like death of unbelief. To whom well does the Lord say in the Gospel: I said to you that you shall die in your sin (Joan. VIII). Which indeed the prophet Ezechiel had well prophesied long before, who had said: And why will you die, ye children of Israel? because 297 I will not the death of the sinner, saith the Lord, but that he be converted and live (Ezech. XVIII) [Vulg. Ezech. 18:31–32 quare moriemini domus Israel... quia nolo mortem morientis, "house of Israel," "of him that dieth"; sed ut convertatur et vivat answers rather to Ezech. 33:11]. He therefore who prophesies not of the present but of the future, saying: You shall die, manifestly declares the perfidy of the Jews, and that in him who was to be born for their sakes they would not 508Dbelieve.

In the earlier treatise of this book, when according to our small measure we were disputing of the breasts of the Bridegroom, we interpreted those breasts of his, according to the spiritual intelligence, as clemency and mercy; in such wise at least that clemency be referred to his divinity, and mercy be attributed to his humanity. Of these spiritual breasts of the Bridegroom therefore, which are clemency and mercy, the figure is found in very many places throughout the sacred utterances. Whence is that passage in the third book of Kings (cap. VI): Solomon made, he says, in the entrance of the oracle two doors of olive wood, and graved upon them a victuram of cherubim, and likenesses of palm trees, 509Aand anaglypta standing out very far; and he covered with gold both the cherubim and the palms and the rest. Of these same spiritual breasts of the Bridegroom, I say, namely of clemency and mercy, a figure is found in the same book of Kings (cap. X) under the name of hands, as it is written: King Solomon made, he says, a great throne of ivory, and clothed it with the finest gold, which had six steps; and the top of the throne was round in the hinder part, and two hands on this side and on that holding the seat, and two lions stood beside each several hand, and twelve little lions standing upon the six steps on this side and on that. But afterwards the history of Kings adds that there was no such work made in any kingdoms (ibid.). These, I say, are the two spiritual breasts of the Bridegroom, which the prophet Zacharias 509Bin his book (cap. IV) calls two olive trees. Even as it is written there: I saw, and behold a candlestick all of gold, and its lamp upon the top of it, and its seven lights upon it, and seven funnels for the lights that were upon the top thereof, and two olive trees over it, one upon the right of the lamp, and one upon the left thereof, and in what follows, when the same prophet asked of the Angel who was speaking to him what the two olive trees were, or the two branches of the olive trees which are beside the two golden beaks, in which are the funnels of gold, it was answered him by the holy Angel: These are two sons of the oil of splendour, who stand before the Ruler of the whole earth (ibid.) [Vulg. Zach. 4:14 isti sunt duo filii olei, without splendoris]. If now at length we return to the order of our narration, and show how the two doors of olive wood set in the entrance 509Cof the oracle signify the two breasts of the Bridegroom, clemency and mercy — nevertheless, the veil of the killing letter being removed, it must first be said to the friends of spiritual grace that he who in the Canticle of Canticles is called the Bridegroom, he himself is called the oracle of the temple and the ivory throne in the book of Kings. Him finally the prophet Zacharias also named, in the Holy Spirit, a golden candlestick. As therefore in the human body the breasts are bodily set, so in Christ these two virtues are naturally implanted, namely clemency and mercy. Whence they are deservedly called his breasts, because by the sweet affluence of these virtues the world is filled, nourished, and sustained. Of which affluence indeed the prophet David 509Dsays: The earth is full of the mercy of the Lord (Psal. XXXII). For how could this world subsist, which is weighed down with so many iniquities, or how would the race of mortals obtain salvation, if it were judged with the clemency and mercy of God removed? It is manifest that neither the world nor man could subsist for a single hour of the day, if God were willing to look upon the evils which are done by men in this world, and not upon his own clemency. Wherefore the prophet David also says: O Lord, do not unto us according to our sins, neither reward us according to our iniquities (Psal. CII) [Vulg. Ps. 102:10 is indicative: non secundum peccata nostra fecit nobis, neque secundum iniquitates nostras retribuit nobis, "he hath not dealt with us according to our sins"]. And so well are the breasts of the Bridegroom taken by the two doors of the oracle, because as through those doors they entered who were to enter the oracle, so they who are to enter the kingdom of heaven shall enter not by their own merits 510Aor works, but by the clemency and mercy of God. Nevertheless, what do we judge it to be, that upon the doors of the oracle cherubim and palms, and anaglyta also, are said to have been graved? It is manifestly plain that cherubim is interpreted a multitude of knowledge or of wisdom, and it is known to many that in ancient times the hands of the victorious were adorned with palms for a token of praise and of victory. But an anaglyptum, so far as it is given us to understand, is said to be a certain kind of sculpture whose hinder part lies hidden within, but whose front part, shaped by the sculptor's work of human skill, stands out beyond measure. Not undeservedly therefore are cherubim found to have been graven upon the doors of the oracle, which are interpreted a multitude of knowledge or of wisdom, because indeed I reckon it just that they who hope in the clemency 510Band mercy of God should in no wise depart from true knowledge or wisdom. For there is no greater wisdom than that a man should withdraw utterly from evil, and without interval do the good whereby he may please God. Which wisdom the Psalmist took care to comprise in few words, saying: Turn away from evil, and do good (Psal. XXXVI). But the likenesses of palm trees follow in right order 298 after the cherubim, because their hands are justly adorned with the palm of victory who sweat at good works with intent devotion, and, so far as is lawful to mortals, guard themselves from evils with anxious purpose. Whence well has ecclesiastical authority long since obtained, by excellent usage, that the right hands of the martyrs of Christ and of virgins ought to be marked with palms worthy of praise, who by despising 510Covercame the present world, and by keeping their virginity and chastity did not hesitate to give over their bodies to martyrdom for love of the heavenly kingdom. It is indeed a mighty victory to keep the integrity of mind and body in this world, and to despise oneself along with the present world by overcoming it even unto death. Wherefore the very Creator of the world, who by despising had trodden down the wicked world, said to his soldiers with a voice of exhortation: Have confidence, for I have overcome the world (Joan. XVI). And finally we can in no way better overcome the world than by renouncing utterly both it and those things which are of its right. But he who already restrains himself from evil and works well, who keeps virginity or chastity, and is seen to have perfectly renounced 510Dthe world, it is expedient for him that he draw not back the reins of his course from the appetite of the other virtues; of which virtues, namely, the anaglypta which are found graven upon the doors of the oracle are known spiritually to hold the figure. For anaglypta, as we said above, are sculptures which are hidden within in their hinder part, but whose front part is clearly manifest to all beholders.

He therefore who within abounds in the bowels of charity, and without bestows the works of that same charity bountifully upon his neighbours; who keeps obedience in mind, and shows forth the works of that same obedience at times in operation; who is humble and meek in heart, and has the tokens of that same humility and meekness in his outward showing; who expresses in himself the remaining traces of the virtues 511A— from his mind and body, beyond all doubt, there come forth spiritually anaglypta standing out very far. And so at last must we think concerning the remaining virtues. But if any man loves chastity within, if he mortifies the flesh without, if he fasts, watches, labours and prays, he, all doubtfulness removed, shows that anaglypta have been carved in his own flesh. Since therefore without faith it is impossible to be saved, therefore does the history deservedly add that Solomon covered with gold the cherubim and the palms and the anaglypta. For he who shall have abounded in the aforesaid virtues, which are signified by the cherubim and the palms and the anaglypta, if nevertheless he shall have lacked the Catholic faith, will in no wise be able to be saved. But that by gold in Holy Scripture the Catholic faith is understood, blessed Peter teaches, who says: That your faith may be much more precious 511Bthan gold which is tried by the fire (I Petr. I) [Vulg. I Petr. 1:7 ut probatio fidei vestrae multo pretiosior auro quod per ignem probatur, "the trial of your faith"]. Behold, we have shown that by the two doors of the oracle the two breasts of the Bridegroom, namely the clemency and the mercy of God, ought spiritually to be understood.

For Christ himself is the true and spiritual oracle, because through him our prayers are heard with God the Father. Whence blessed John says: We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the just, and he is the propitiation for our sins (I Joan. II. ,

Above we said beforehand that the Lord Jesus, 511Cwho in the Canticle of Canticles is called the Bridegroom, he himself indeed is called in the book of Kings the oracle of the temple and the ivory throne. Moreover we added this, that by the two doors of the oracle the clemency and mercy of God, namely the breasts of the Bridegroom, ought to be understood. We subjoined finally a sufficient reason, namely that as those entering the oracle entered through those doors, so assuredly through the clemency and mercy of God shall they be saved who are to be saved. It remains therefore that we approach the throne built of ivory, and set forth, according to our small measure, in what manner the same throne was made by Solomon in a figure of Christ. Then at length it will be necessary that we search out, allegorizing in the spiritual sense, how those two hands of which we spoke in the preceding place, 511Dwhich hold the seat in the ivory throne, spiritually hold the figure of clemency and mercy, that is, of the breasts of the Bridegroom. Nevertheless it must be piously considered by us whether anywhere in the divine utterances anything be said of a throne, so that what we mean to say may be strengthened by the authority of the sacred utterances. In the Apocalypse John says: From the throne proceed lightnings, and voices, and thunders (Apoc. IV). As if he should say: From Christ, who is the golden throne in which the fulness of the divinity rested, there go forth lightnings, that is, the tokens of miracles, and the voices of evangelical preaching, and the thunders, namely the terrors of the judgment to come and of the last damnation.

Moreover let this be hidden from no one, that the throne of which we are busy to speak, and which we purpose spiritually to refer to the person 512Aof Christ, is described to have been not only of ivory, but also of the brightest gold. It is plain therefore, and we are brought by this into no ambiguity, that by the gold we ought to understand the divinity 299 and by the ivory his humanity. But that gold holds the signification of the divinity of Christ needs no difficult interpretation, because as gold, for its own preciousness, goes before all metals, so without doubt the divinity of Christ, for the excellence of its dignity, surpasses not only his humanity but also all creatures. Whence elegantly the Holy Spirit, after he had said through the mouth of the historian that Solomon made a great throne of ivory, thereupon added: And he overlaid vestitvit it with the finest gold, that it might be made manifest 512Bhow far the prerogative of the divinity excelled the assumed matter of the humanity. For it is certain, and no one doubts, that a thing which clothes another thing is set above that very thing which it is seen to overclothe. As therefore the most splendid gold with its splendour and its brightness adorned, bedecked and made bright the throne which it clothed, so without doubt the divinity carried that man whom it assumed forward even unto this its own glorification, that the man himself, by participation of the divinity, was made God. Much therefore did our humanity profit, which ascended, glorified unto the participation of the supernal deity in the assumption of the assuming divinity. Finally, by how much in the first Adam his descent to the lower regions was the worse, 512Cby so much in the second Adam his ascent to the heavens was the more glorious and the more excellent. And as there was nothing whereby it could be cast down more unhappily from paradise, seduced by the devil, so there had been nothing whereby it could be lifted up more happily and more gloriously by Christ.

Our flesh therefore has been exalted in Christ above every creature and above itself; above itself, I say, because it in no wise deserved that dignity to which it has come. And this indeed is what the prophet had prophesied long before it came to pass: Let thy ancient, true counsel be done, O Lord (Isa. XXV) [Vulg. Isa. 25:1 cogitationes antiquas fideles amen]. This counsel assuredly was from eternity, and before eternity (if it be lawful so to say!), in the disposition of the highest deity, that our flesh, to be assumed and glorified by Christ, should be raised on high even unto the contemplation 512Dof the divine majesty. Concerning this glorification indeed of our humanity, or its assumption, the prophet Ezechiel (cap. XVII), refreshed by spiritual contemplation, seems to me to say: A great eagle, upheld by the great defence of her wings and adorned with much variety of feathers, came to the cedar which was in Libanus, and took of the marrow of the cedar and carried it away, and set it upon a holy and lofty mountain. [Vulg. Ezech. 17:3–4 aquila grandis magnarum alarum, longo membrorum ductu, plena plumis et varietate, venit ad Libanum et tulit medullam cedri; the setting in monte sancto et excelso answers rather to Ezech. 17:22–23] Who then is this eagle, but that one of which the prophet says: As an eagle provoketh her young to fly, and fluttering over them spreadeth her wings, and hath taken them up and carried them on her shoulders? (Deut. XXXII) And as though some one should ask of him of what eagle he was speaking, he straightway subjoined manifestly that he had said this of God: The Lord alone was his leader (ibid.). This eagle therefore 513Acame to the cedar which was in Libanus, and took to herself of its marrow, when the Word, brought forth from the heart of the Father, came to blessed Mary, and from her virgin flesh received to himself a most holy and undefiled body. And as the prophet says of that eagle, that she set upon a holy and lofty mountain the marrow which she had taken from the cedar, so indeed the Son of God, namely the Word of the Father, raised on high with himself, in the seat of his majesty at the right hand of his Father, our flesh which he assumed from the blessed Virgin Mary. But that blessed Mary is called the cedar of Libanus is plainly known from ecclesiastical usage rather than from any difficult interpretation. For thus holy Church says in her daily office: As a cedar I was exalted in Libanus (Eccli. 513BXXIV). And because Libanus is interpreted a whitening, not undeservedly is it compared to the virginity of blessed Mary. For as the material cedar was exalted in Libanus, so blessed Mary, for the singular privilege of her virginity, is glorified and chosen out before God. But let us now at length return to the golden and ivory throne treated above, and behold with spiritual eyes in what manner it held the figure of the Lord's body. Solomon made, he says, a great throne of ivory (III Reg. X). Truly that throne was great with a wonderful loftiness, because, as the Psalmist says: Great is the Lord, and exceedingly to be praised, and of his greatness there is no end (Psal. CXLIV). Moreover we declared a little before for what cause that throne was clothed with most precious gold; 513Cnow it remains that our mind bring forth into the light why the same throne, which bore the figure of the Lord's body, is of ivory. For as they have said before us who with prudent skill have disputed of the natures of things, ivory is of so wonderful a power and coldness that if a linen cloth be laid upon that same abur, and upon that same linen cloth a live coal be set above, by its own power the ivory keeps unharmed the cloth which cleaves to it, lest it be able to be utterly consumed or burnt by the live coal set above. Who therefore, even to one who knows but slightly, does not manifestly grow clear, how this comparison ought to be fitted to the body of Christ? For as ivory by its natural power keeps the cloth laid upon it unviolated from the burning of fire, so the divinity which in the body of Christ was overshadowed 513Dkept that same body immune from every blemish of sin. Wherefore also the blessed apostle Peter, speaking of the Lord Jesus, said: Who did no sin, he says, neither was guile found in his mouth (I Petr. II). But as to the six steps which are related to have been in the throne, by which one ascended step by step to the seat of the throne, sacred History has taught us with manifest reason that 300 through the six ages of the passing world God the Son promised us in mystical and hidden ways that he would come to his incarnation. For in the first age, which was from Adam unto Noe, he pledged that he would come when he declared to the woman, saying: Thy seed shall crush the head of the serpent (Gen. III) [Vulg. Gen. 3:15 ipsa conteret caput tuum, "she shall crush thy head"]. But in the second age, which was from 514ANoe unto Abraham, he showed that he would come, when he said to the sons of Noe: Increase and multiply (Gen. VIII). But in the third age, which ran from Abraham unto Moses, he prefigured that he would be present, when he blessed the offspring of that same prophet, saying: In thy seed shall all nations be blessed (Gen. XXII). But in the fourth age, which was from Moses unto David, he intimated in the manifold religion of sacrifices that he would be at hand. But in the fifth age, which was from David unto the nativity of blessed Mary [and] flourished, because he himself is King of kings and priest for ever according to the order of Melchisedech (Psal. CIX), he declared figuratively in kings and priests that he would come. The sixth age is that which is now passing, from the birth of the blessed Virgin Mary unto the day 514Bof judgment, in which the Son of God clemently deigned to come to his incarnation, just as by the sixth step one came to that glorious seat which was in the midst of the golden and ivory throne (III Reg. X). But that it is said that the top of the throne is round in the hinder part is by no means to be passed over slothfully by the prudent reader. For scarcely anyone is ignorant who abounds in any sense, that whatever is round is also perfect in every part of itself. For of Christ, whose figure that throne held, holy Church preaches to her sons, saying: Perfect God, perfect man, subsisting of a rational soul and human flesh. But the two hands which in the aforesaid throne hold the seat on this side and on that ought not unfittingly to be understood as the clemency and mercy of our 514CSaviour; which wrought this, that for the redemption of the human race Christ should take flesh, and should for a time taste the death which he utterly knew not. Whence also the prophet David says: He shall drink of the torrent in the way, therefore shall he lift up the head (Psal. CIX). These, I say, are the spiritual breasts of the Bridegroom in the Canticle of Canticles, the two hands which hold the seat of the golden and ivory throne in the book of Kings, namely clemency and mercy, which brought it about that God should become man, and should wonderfully lead us back to the joys of paradise which we lost through Adam.

Let us see finally what that is which the text of the history rehearsed to us above: Beside, he says, each several hand 514Dtwo lions stood (III Reg. X). Indeed by manifest reason we understand from the preceding discourse that there were no more hands there than two, and if two lions were assigned to each several hand, we hold for certain that there were not more than four lions only attending there. What therefore do the four lions signify, which are set beside each several hand, but the four gospels which everywhere preach the clemency and mercy of God? For thus thou hast it written in the Gospel: He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved (Marc. XVI). And in another place: Do penance, the kingdom of heaven is at hand (Matth. IV). The twelve little lions which the sacred history relates to have been upon the six steps signify the fulness and perfection 515Aof the spiritual gifts, which no one doubts to have rested and remained upon Christ. In Christ, as the Apostle says, dwelleth all the fulness of the divinity corporeally (Coloss. II). And of his fulness, says John, we have all received (Joan. I). Meanwhile, if by the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit which Isaias relates to have rested upon Christ, and by the virtues which holy Church chiefly commends, we wish to understand these twelve little lions, our understanding, even among the enemies of the truth, will be judged worthy of worthy praise. For thus says Isaias: There shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise up out of his root, and the spirit of wisdom and of understanding shall rest upon him, the spirit of counsel and of fortitude, the spirit of knowledge and of godliness, and the spirit of the fear of the Lord shall fill him 515B(Isa. XI) [Vulg. Isa. 11:2 has spiritus Domini before spiritus sapientiae et intellectus]. If therefore to these seven gifts of the Holy Spirit thou shalt add five virtues, namely faith, hope, charity, good work, and chastity, thou wilt beyond doubt fill up the number of twelve. For seven and five, when they come together into one, undoubtedly make up the number of twelve. These spiritual little lions therefore, as I judge, are of a better and worthier price than those which Solomon caused to stand upon the six steps in the midst of the golden and ivory throne.

After these things, the history relates, as it were under a certain wonder, that there was no such work made in any kingdoms (III Reg. X). And well indeed and justly enough did the history relate this. For there was no such work made in any kingdoms as is that which 515Cthe Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us (Joan. I). There was not, I say, such a work made in any kingdoms, that God should be made man, and should redeem with his blood the human race which had perished. Truly, I say, there was not so glorious a work made in any kingdoms, that our nature, already utterly despaired of as to salvation, should be drawn away from the lower regions and set in heaven at the right hand of God the Father.

Almost all the sacramental words which are found overshadowed in the divinely inspired Scriptures are sometimes 515Dindeed referred to our head, who is Christ; sometimes, however, they ought to be assigned universally to holy Church, which is the body of that same head of ours; sometimes they can not unfittingly be fitted to each several one of the faithful, who are the members of the aforesaid head and body.

That this is so, let us know for certain, that as the ivory throne, of which we have already often spoken, befits the Lord Jesus Christ, so consequently it agrees with holy Church, which is his body. But since already, so far as the faculty of our wit sufficed, we have allegorically assigned the aforesaid throne to our head, Christ, it remains now that we ascribe the same, in an allegorical sense, to our body, holy Church. 516ASolomon made, he says, a great throne of ivory (III Reg. X). For because Solomon is interpreted peaceable, not undeservedly is the Lord Jesus Christ taken by Solomon. Of whom indeed Paul the apostle says: He is our peace, who hath made both one (Ephes. II.) This our peaceable king therefore made an ivory throne, because, as the divine page testifies: Wisdom hath built herself a house (Prov. IX); and because holy Church in all her teachings preaches that chastity is chiefly to be kept, it is elegantly established also that that throne, which prefigured holy Church, was built of ivory. For ivory is the bone of the elephant, which beast is said to be of so great coldness that either rarely, or once in the year, as we judge, it scarcely comes to pay the dues of natural coupling. 516BWhich indeed becomingly alludes to the sacraments of holy Church, which utterly forbids conjugal works to not a few of her sons, but to some grants conjugal acts by indulgence, for the repairing of the succession of human offspring. There is besides another sacrament which is wont to be told of the elephant and of the dragon, which without doubt ought specially to be assigned to holy Church: for the draeo, as blessed Augustine says, is a serpent or beast of twelve cubits in length, which pursues the elephant for this cause, that its blood is a drink very delightful to him. Wherefore, when he wills to kill him, that he may delightfully drink up the blood which he desires, with the length of his body and tail he ensnares the feet of the elephant, that the elephant may not be able anywhere to turn aside 516Cor to go forward. And so it comes about in a wondrous manner that, while the elephant, his feet ensnared, is overthrown and pressed down upon the dragon, he crushes and slays with the mass of his own body that very dragon which was contriving to bring death upon him. What then does this elephant signify, but holy Church? And what that dragon, but the devil, who with assiduous machinations persecutes that same holy Church? Whence also in his Apocalypse John the apostle says: And the dragon persecuted the woman, and the woman fled into the wilderness. And the dragon sent a river after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away by the river (Apoc. XII) [Vulg. Apoc. 12:15 et misit serpens ex ore suo post mulierem aquam tamquam flumen, "the serpent... water as it were a river"]. And this is that woman, namely holy Church, of whom it is said through Solomon: Who shall find a valiant woman? (Prov. XXXI.) It is besides to be known that holy Church, which is called the Bride and the dove and the 516Dbeloved in the Canticle of Canticles (cap. II), is herself called the ivory throne in the book of Kings. And her whom Solomon calls a valiant woman, John in the Apocalypse names a woman fleeing into the wilderness. She is finally the house which wisdom built, standing upon seven pillars. But as to what is said, that that throne which Solomon made of ivory was great, this is in no wise contrary to holy Church. For she it is who in her head, namely Christ, has penetrated the height of heaven, and, borne up by her feet, namely the apostles, has come even to the utmost bounds of the whole world. Which indeed is well prefigured in the prophet Daniel, when to that most impious king Nabuchodonosor holy Church is shown by a vision under the appearance of a certain great 517Atree. As it is written there: I saw, and behold a certain great tree was in the midst of the earth, whose height reached unto heaven, and its branches were spread out unto the ends of the earth (Dan. IV.) [Vulg. Dan. 4:8 aspectus illius erat usque ad terminos universae terrae, "the sight thereof was unto the ends of the whole earth"; the branches enter only at v. 9] Beneath it dwelt the beasts of the field, and in its branches abode the birds of the air, and the food of all was in that tree, and of it all flesh did eat. The tree therefore in the midst of the earth is holy Church, of which it is said that God hath wrought salvation in the midst of the earth (Psal. LXXIII). Its height, which reaches unto heaven, is the head of holy Church, Christ, of whom Paul says: We have a great high priest, Christ Jesus, who hath penetrated the heavens (Hebr. IV) [Vulg. Hebr. 4:14 pontificem magnum qui penetravit caelos, Iesum Filium Dei, "Jesus the Son of God"]. But its branches are the Apostles, to whom the Lord said: I am the vine, you 517Bare the branches (Joan. XV). Whence well is it said that its branches were spread out unto the ends of the earth, because into all the earth hath gone forth the sound of the apostles, and their words unto the ends of the world (Psal. XVIII). But as to what the Prophet subjoined, that under the earth dwell the beasts of the field, and in its branches abode 302 the birds of the air: by the beasts, bestial men can be taken, and by the birds, spiritual men ought to be understood. For the former, as being animal, obtain the lowest place in holy Church the latter however. as being spiritual, bear themselves up to lofty things on the wings of the virtues. But the food of all which is related to have been in that tree is the evangelical preaching, namely the refreshment of faithful souls, which is preached in the Church. And since indeed at the end of this vision it is added that 517Call flesh did eat of that tree, it is manifestly given to be understood that all flesh which is to be saved in the day of judgment must needs live according to the Gospel of Christ, and in no wise depart from holy Church. But as to what the history of Kings brought in besides, that Solomon clothed with radiant gold the throne which he had made, this in no wise drives us back from the ecclesiastical sacraments: for holy Church is clothed with the brightest gold, because she is adorned with every ornament of wisdom. For by gold wisdom is designated, as it is said through a certain wise man: Wisdom that is hid, and treasure that is not seen, what profit is there in them both? (Eccli. XL.) [Vulg. Eccli. 41:17 sapientia absconsa et thesaurus invisus] Moreover, if by gold we wish to understand the ornaments of the spiritual virtues, let us hear with devout mind how the Psalmist 517Dmeets our understanding. All the glory, he says, of the king's daughter is within, in golden borders, clothed round about with varieties (Psal. XXXXIV). But the six steps which were in the aforesaid throne signify the six ecclesiastical degrees which are in holy Church, namely readers, doorkeepers, acolytes, subdeacons, levites, priests. For as by those six steps one ascended unto the seat of the throne, so indeed by these six ecclesiastical degrees one comes to the most holy altar. But as to what the book of Kings relates, that that throne was round, this signifies that holy Church, ascending from virtue to virtue, ever tends toward perfection. Whence in the Canticle of Canticles it is said: Thy belly is like a turned bowl (cap. VII) [Vulg. Cant. 7:2 umbilicus tuus crater tornatilis... venter tuus sicut acervus tritici, "thy navel is a turned bowl... thy belly as a heap of wheat"]. For whatever 518Ais wrought upon the lathe, it plainly stands that it is presented more perfectly to human sight. But the two hands which hold the seat. are the divinity and the humanity of Christ, which in holy Church build for us the most holy Altar. For unless God were made man, his flesh would in no wise be daily offered upon the holy altar. And unless he himself, God, became man true God, he would in no wise be adored with the Father and the Holy Spirit in equal honour. The four lions which stood there beside the hands signify the four virtues, namely justice, fortitude, prudence, temperance, which in holy Church obtain the triumphal token. The twelve little lions which stood upon the six steps on this side and on that are the twelve apostles, namely the preachers of holy Church. For because lions are strong 518Banimals and bear the type of royal dignity and authority, not undeservedly are the Apostles understood by the lions, whose royal dignity and kingly authority is preached through the four quarters of the world. But in the conclusion of this sentence, the history of Kings subjoined that such a work was not made in any kingdoms. Truly indeed does the history of Kings say it, since so wonderful a work has nowhere been made as is holy Church, which quodidie lays open to her sons, through faith and working, the heavenly kingdoms.

He who wishes to instruct men in morals ought 518Chimself to be instructed in his own morals. But because it is found hard that anyone should be adorned on every side with good morals, we ought not on that account to cease altogether from the building up of morals, since we hold this on the authority of the divine sayings: that our mind ought always to be intent upon good morals and works, and our tongue to publish abroad to all the praises of its Maker with untiring devotion. Whosoever thou art that readest or hearest that scripture which tells how Solomon made a great throne of ivory, attend not to that material throne only, but look to thy body and to thy soul, since indeed what was done in that throne materially, this thou canst find in thyself spiritually 518Dand morally. For a throne of gold and of ivory thou shalt be able to be, spiritually and morally, if thou givest thy pains to the true wisdom which is signified by the gold, and if in mind and body thou strivest perfectly after the chastity which is shown by the ivory. There are, in fine, in thee those six steps by which one ascended to the perfect seat, namely the six works of mercy, which, because we reckon that we have already recounted them above, we here pass over in silence, that the reader be not wearied. And since the throne is said to have been round, it plainly shows that he desires to be the throne of God, let him strive after every perfection, let him keep mind and tongue and body from all sin. But the two hands which hold the seat are two things, namely the will of God and the present life, which keep the soul in this body. 519ABut that the soul of every faithful man may be called a seat, this the divine page cries out even while we are silent, saying: The soul of the just man is the seat of wisdom (Sap. VII). And the four lions which are beside the aforesaid hands can rightly be understood as four virtues, 303 namely fear and love, contempt and esteem. For we ought both to love and to fear the will of God, and the present life, as is expedient, both to esteem and to despise. But the twelve little lions which stand upon the six steps on this side and on that are the twelve sacraments of holy Church, namely the threefold renunciation of the devil, and the threefold profession of the catholic faith. the receiving of holy baptism, the communion of the body and blood of Christ. confession, penance, the forgiveness of sins in the Holy Spirit, 519Band perseverance in good works unto death. These, therefore, are the spiritual lions, which drive far from the souls of the faithful that lion who goes about seeking whom he may devour; and lest he presume to dwell in them any longer, they repel him by their own power and sanctification. But afterward the historian closed this saying with such an ending, saying: There was not such work made in all kingdoms (III Reg. X). He who is well-mannered, whose morals breathe far and wide a most sweet odour, who unremittingly presses upon good morals and cleaves to them, who offers himself to God as a daily sacrifice, whose morals God approves and praises, who by the correcting of his morals is made spiritual out of animal, he beyond doubt can say of himself that there was not such work made in all kingdoms.

• 519C

Solomon made, he says, a great throne of ivory, and clothed it with gold exceedingly bright (ibid.) [Vulg. III Reg. X, 18 fecit etiam rex Salomon thronum de ebore grandem, et vestivit eum auro fulvo nimis, "with exceeding tawny gold"]. I beseech thee, my most bright Lady, if I speak anything less worthy than thy dignity deserves, let this not turn out to me for the loss of my soul, but let it fall out for the increase of merit and of heavenly glory. For I know, I know, that if all my members were turned into tongues, I should not be strong enough to utter as is worthy thy praises, which the sublime glory of thy singular virginity deserves. I know, I say, my Lady, that even if 519Dall that is mine could speak, yet they would not find in heaven or on earth anyone like to thee. In heaven, moreover, there is none like to thee, because if we treat of God, God is greater than thou, and therefore he is not thy like. But if our tongue wishes to say anything of the saints, or of the angels, or of any creatures, though created by God, it is manifest that thy dignity excels and surpasses all creatures, for as it is written. Thou art exalted above the choirs of angels to the heavenly kingdoms. Again I beseech thee, my Lady a thousand times more than most dear: thy little servants who gladly honour thee, and devoutly serve thee, and becomingly speak of thee what is worthy — help them all by thy prayers and merits, and sustain them, comfort them, keep them from all sin, and lead them through to the immortal joys of thy Son. 520AThou art therefore that throne — not the one which Solomon the mortal king made, the son, that is, of David the king, but rather that one which God chose from eternity and fore-chose for himself to dwell in, namely the Son of God, the immortal King. Thou art that throne of which the Psalmist says: Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever; the rod of direction is the rod of thy kingdom (Psal. XLIV) [Vulg. Psal. XLIV, 7 sedes tua, Deus, in saeculum saeculi, "thy seat"]. Thou art, I say, my Lady, dearer than all dear ones, a throne framed of heavenly gold and of spiritual ivory. By the gold is understood the divinity of Christ thy Son; but by the ivory, which is of a cold nature, thy most holy virginity. Of the gold, therefore, of divine majesty, and of the ivory of perpetual virginity art thou framed, since both the divinity of thy Son was ineffably overshadowed in thee, the Holy Spirit working with him, and thy virginity remains and has remained 520Bunviolated to thee. Moreover, what the investigators of natures are wont to say about the nature of ivory I judge in no wise to be passed over in silence. For it agrees with blessed Mary, with her dignity, and with the sublime power of her help. For they say that if ivory be very often applied to an aching head, by its natural power it soothes and drives out all pain of the head. Those, therefore, who ache in the head — that is, in the mind — being wounded by the darts of vices, it is needful without doubt that they implore the help and aid of holy Mary the Mother of God, and say from the innermost affection of the heart: « We flee to thy protection, where the weak have received strength; and for this cause, O Virgin Mother of God, we render to thy dignity the giving of thanks. » Thou art, I say, Lady, the house which Wisdom, that is the Son, built for himself (Prov. IX), and 520Cin which he set seven spiritual pillars, for comeliness and glory, with eternal stability: namely virginity, chastity, continence, humility, faith, hope, charity. Truly in blessed Mary there shone forth the singular privilege of incomparable virginity and the fragrance of odour-bearing chastity, since unless she had been a virgin and chaste, the Son of God would in no wise have chosen her to dwell in. For it was fitting that she should be a virgin who was redeeming the world, since that first parent was a virgin who had ruined the whole world. Since therefore blessed Mary the Mother of God was a virgin, she was consequently chaste and continent. But concerning her unspeakable humility, what can we bring forward worthy of her praises? For indeed when this most holy 520Dand a thousand times 304 most blessed Virgin was chosen by the Angel to be mother of the Son of God, she confesses herself with humble devotion the handmaid of that same Son of hers, saying: Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done unto me according to thy word (Luc. I). But the Mother of God had faith undefiled, since she believed, at the Angel's announcing, that she could become the Mother of God. And hope had set its lofty citadel in that most blessed Virgin, for although what she heard was unwonted and unheard-of in ages and generations gone by; yet she hoped with most certain faith that it must so come to pass as it was proclaimed to her by the Angel. How the Mother of God overflowed in the bowels of charity, no one can hold unknown who has been in any degree instructed in the knowledge of the divine law. For as her Son incurred the curse of the law for the redemption of the human race. 521AFor cursed, says Moses (Deut. XXI), is he who shall hang upon a tree [Vulg. Deut. XXI, 23 maledictus a Deo est qui pendet in ligno, "cursed of God is he that hangeth on a tree"], so she too doubtless chose rather to lie under the curse of the law with the keeping of her virginity, than, virginity lost, to leave behind carnal sons in Israel. So, in fine, the Mosaic law said: cursed is he, or cursed is she, who has not left seed in Israel. Thou art therefore brighter and more splendid than all the brightness and splendour of the sun, far and incomparably more precious than every precious stone; thou art found more shining than every gleam of the stars, being as thou art the star of the sea; for thou art the brightness of eternal light, and the mirror without blemish of the divine majesty. Thou art the inheritance of the Lord; in thee the Flius of God tarried. Thou canst say: The Creator of all things, who created me, rested in my tabernacle (Eccli XXIV). Thou art the tabernacle set in the sun, 521Bfrom which tabernacle the Son of God came forth as a bridegroom out of his chamber (Psal. XVIII). Thy womb is the silver bed in which is that golden apple, of which Solomon says: Golden apples on beds of silver — a word brought forth in its own time (Prov. XXV) [Vulg. Prov. XXV, 11 mala aurea in lectis argenteis qui loquitur verbum in tempore suo, "he that speaketh a word in due season"]. For the special nativity of thine only-begotten Son could not be declared by a worthier or brighter comparison. For the apple brought forth on beds of silver is the Word made flesh in the womb of the Virgin. But the six steps which are described as having been in the ivory throne signify especially the six degrees of humility which blessed Mary had in her heart. Whence the Holy Spirit well speaks in the Song of Songs: When the king was at his repose, my spikenard gave forth its odour (Cant. I). For spikenard is said to be an aromatic tree of low stature, 521Cby which the humility of blessed Mary is fitly understood. Which virginal humility doubtless pleased the king resting at his repose, when that same king — the Son, that is, of the eternal King — descending from heaven took most holy flesh in the womb of the blessed Virgin Mary. But now let us see what the six degrees of humility are. For the first degree of humility is that a man confess himself created from earth, and acknowledge that for the desert of his own depravity he will return into ashes. But the second degree is that a man never grow proud over any grace received. The third, that for the benefits conferred upon him by the Lord he render thanks unceasingly to his Creator himself. The fourth, that a man esteem himself inferior to all in merits. The fifth, that 521Dhe judge himself equal to none. The sixth, that he in no wise reckon himself better than or superior to anyone. These are the six spiritual degrees of humility, by which God descends to the heart of him who humbles himself, and by which man ascends to the knowledge of God descending to him. But after these things the narrative intimated to us that that throne was round on its outer part. And in an earlier treatment I remember to have said that whatever is round seems to be perfect; what then does the roundness and perfection of the golden throne suggest to us, unless that blessed Mary was a virgin before childbirth, and after childbirth remained an unviolated virgin? And the hands indeed which held the seat of the ivory throne signify the two Testaments, which everywhere preached the humanity of Christ which he took in blessed Mary.

522AThe four lions therefore which stand beside the aforesaid hands are the four Gospels, which cry out the same thing as the two Testaments. The twelve little lions which are said to have been upon the six steps on this side and on that are the twelve virtues which it is agreed that blessed Mary assuredly possessed: namely spiritual life, joy in the Holy Spirit, long-suffering, patience, goodness, kindness, meekness, faith, incomparable modesty, virginity, compassion, perseverance in a holy purpose. For blessed Mary led a spiritual life, since unless her life had shone full of virtues, it would in no wise have pleased God. She doubtless had joy in the Holy Spirit, since she herself, filled with spiritual jubilation, said in her hymn: My spirit hath rejoiced in 522BGod my saviour (Luc I). Long-suffering indeed was not lacking to her, for the things which she heard from the Angel, though they were unheard-of and unwonted, she yet awaited with long-suffering that they might be fulfilled in her. She was fortified in no small measure with the virtue of patience, since the insults which she saw inflicted upon her Son — nay, even upon herself — by the faithless Jews, she bore with a patient mind. Who would deny that she had goodness and kindness, whom beyond doubt we confess to have flourished in all abundance? But meekness held the chief place in her, since unless she had been meek, the Holy Spirit would in no wise have chosen her to dwell in. But incomparable faith, as we have already recalled above, ranged through the inmost parts of her heart, since although it was against the laws of human nature that a Virgin was being chosen Mother of God, yet 522Cshe believed that it could so come to pass at the nod of God, as it was proclaimed to her 305 by the Angel. Her modesty, that is her religion, with what proclamations can we exalt as is worthy, she whom we know for certain to have been found by the Angel at leisure for prayer and silence. But the doors of her Virginity and the tokens of her most entire chastity, with what praises shall we proclaim them as is fitting, she who had so far unlearned to enjoy the converse of men that she was terrified even at the angel's entrance and address? Whence the Angel: Fear not, he says, Mary, thou hast found grace with the Lord (ibid.) [Vulg. Luc. I, 30 invenisti enim gratiam apud Deum, "with God"]. For when the Angel Gabriel proclaimed to her that glorious and ineffable Hail sent from God, because he saw her afraid, he straightway warned her not to fear anything. 522DBut the compassion and grief which Blessed Mary endured at the death of her Son, no one is able to pour out clearly into human hearing. For she saw God and the Son of God, whom as a Virgin Mother she had conceived of the Holy Spirit, crucified by the most impious Jews, and — as though he were guilty of some crime — condemned beforehand along with thieves. But how could the inward parts of the Blessed Virgin Mary remain without the experience of grief, when she beheld her own flesh, which the Son of God had taken in her womb for the salvation of the human race, hanging upon the cross? The perseverance in a holy purpose and in good works which Blessed Mary had we can show by an easy judgment, since it is agreed, all ambiguity removed, that from her birth to the end of this mortal life she pleased God 523Ain all things. But after these things the book of Kings closed the foregoing saying with such an ending, saying: There was not such work made in all kingdoms (III Reg. X). O how admirable is that conclusion! Truly, such work was not made in all kingdoms as is that which a Virgin conceived of the Holy Spirit, a Virgin bore the Son of God, a Virgin remained unviolated after childbirth. 524AThere was not, I say, from the beginning of the world such work made, that a Virgin Mother should suckle the Son of God with virginal breasts. Therefore, since to this second throne — that is, to this volume — the breasts of the Bridegroom gave the beginning, it is fitting that the breasts of the Bride, the Virgin and Mother, should grant to that same throne a suitable end.

523Here ends the second Tome on the Song of Songs.

523BHe who is pleased to enter some garden planted with trees of divers kinds and adorned with blossoming flowers is gladly refreshed by the taste of the fruits, and is wonderfully delighted by the sweet fragrance of the blossoming flowers. What then do we say this garden is, but the most delightful text of the Holy Scriptures? And what the trees and flowers? Assuredly the spiritual meanings of the Scriptures. Let us therefore enter this garden in mind and spirit, and see what it is that the Bride says to the Bridegroom: Thy name is oil poured out. As those say who discourse of the natures of things, oil is reported to have in itself seven powers or natures, which seem most aptly to agree with the name of Christ, since according to Isaiah the prophet (cap. XI) the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit 523Care said to have rested upon him; namely, « the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and fortitude, the spirit of knowledge and piety, the spirit of the fear of the Lord. » But now let us come to the discussing of the seven natures of oil, and fit them to the Lord Jesus. Oil is said to float above all liquids into which it is put. Which well agrees with the Lord Jesus, since as Paul says: « God gave him a name which is above every name (Philip. II). » And God himself « is over all things blessed for ever. Amen (Rom. IX). » Oil receives no external liquid, since no stain or contagion of sin infected Christ, as Peter says: « Who did no sin (I Petr. II) » it refreshes men, and Christ gives us his blood 523Dand his flesh to drink and satisfies us. It heals wounds, since Christ, as Isaiah says: « He healed our wounds (Isa. LIII). » [Vulg. Isa. LIII, 5 livore ejus sanati sumus, "by his bruises we are healed"] It is such within as it is without, since our nature, taken up by the divinity of Christ, by participation in that same divinity was wholly without fault. Applied to fire, it gives light to those sitting in darkness. and Christ enlightens every man coming into this world (Joan. I). If it is poured out in one place, it is seen to occupy the ground around it: but Christ was born in Bethlehem, yet by a star shining from heaven he was announced to the Magi of the East. Compare therefore, if it please thee, the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit with the seven natures of oil, and thou shalt consider wondrous things in the law of God. There is no 306 greater wisdom than that a man should know his Creator, « who is over 524Ball things God blessed for ever. Amen. » No one can have a worthier understanding than that he should know the good which he understands, and within the secret place of his heart in no wise receive the work of the devil. But then our body and soul use wise and perfect counsel, when, confession and penance having gone before, it is refreshed by the body of Christ and the blood of Christ. And our mind then attains a stronger health, when it imitates Christ according to its possibility. Assuredly we cannot come to fellowship with Christ, unless through true knowledge we strive to possess chastity of body and cleanness of heart. We then shine with a great blaze of charity, when with a sincere mind we bear bowels of piety toward all men. We confess that we truly have the holy fear of the Lord 524Cthen, when, doing well in one place, we let a sweetly-smelling example flow forth from us far and wide. Let the Bride therefore say to the Bridegroom: Thy name is oil poured out, as if she said: As oil which is poured out in one place is seen to occupy the ground around it, so thou indeed wast crucified for me in Jerusalem, but wast preached through the whole world by me; and therefore the maidens, that is the faithful souls, have loved thee. Since indeed thou didst die on the cross for them, therefore those maidens have loved thee so far that the martyrs themselves died for thee. Let us strive therefore, as Paul says, to suffer with Christ and to die with him (Rom. VIII), that we may be able to rise again to the blessed life 524Dwith him, since if we have been companions of his sufferings, we shall likewise be companions of his resurrection and joy (II Cor. I).

Goldsmiths, who are wont to work in gold and silver or in precious stones, when they fashion some precious vessel between their hands — there are perhaps some men who praise and marvel at that vessel which they behold, and are delighted with the wondrous variety of the craftsman's work; but the craftsmen nevertheless still set beneath the hammers the vessel which they have in their hands, thin it with files, adorn it with gems; and although to the men standing by that vessel already seems on every side to be perfect, to the craftsmen it seems to be less polished and perfect. And so in that manner, when we treated above that saying 525A— namely, "Thy name is oil poured out" — although what we have said may perhaps please some, yet still, by the helping grace of the Holy Spirit, we can add something to the earlier treatment which may not displease the hearing of readers and hearers alike. "Thy name is oil poured out; therefore the maidens have loved thee (Cant. I)." This is the voice of holy Church, which praises the clemency of her Bridegroom, and his ineffable charity, in this two-membered utterance. Nor is it any wonder if the Bride praises the clemency of her Bridegroom, since the Bridegroom himself also does not keep silent about the affection and tenderness which he has had toward his Bride. For thus he himself says through Jeremiah the prophet: « With an everlasting charity have I loved thee, therefore have I drawn thee, taking pity (cap. XXXI). Concerning this ineffable charity 525Bof Christ, indeed, wherewith he himself loved holy Church, John the apostle says: Herein is the charity of God perfected in us, not because we have loved him, but because he first loved us (I Joan. IV). » [Vulg. I Joan. IV, 10 non quasi nos dilexerimus Deum, "not as though we had loved God"] Moreover it is pleasing to consider whether in the Old Testament or in the prophets anything said about oil can be found which agrees with the name of the Bridegroom and can becomingly be fitted to the mysteries of the Bride, that is, of holy Church. For in Exodus the Lord says to Moses: « Command the children of Israel that they bring thee the purest oil from the olive trees, and pounded with a pestle, that a lamp may burn always before me in the tabernacle of the testimony (cap XXVII). » Isaiah the prophet also, making mention of oil, says: « A vineyard was made for my beloved 525Con a horn, the son of oil; and he hedged it in, and picked the stones out of it, and planted it a choice vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, set up a winepress in it, and looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes (cap. V). » But in Zechariah the prophet it is thus written of oil: « These are the two sons of the oil of splendour, who stand before the ruler of the whole earth (cap. IV). » [Vulg. Zach. IV, 14 isti sunt duo filii olei qui assistunt Dominatori universae terrae — without splendoris, "of splendour"] For since in the earlier treatment, aided by the help of the divinity of Christ and somewhat made fruitful by the dew of spiritual understanding, we discoursed of the seven natures of oil — not indeed as is worthy, but according to the small measure of our wit — and assigned those same natures to the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, which are in Christ in their fullness; it now remains that we speak something further about oil under the allegorical sense, which may agree both with Christ and with holy Church, 525Dand may morally suit each and every one of the faithful. Let us see, therefore, what it is that Isaiah the excellent prophet says: « A vineyard, he says, was made for my beloved on a horn, the son of oil. » O thou, Lord Jesus Christ, who art the son of the highest oil, unveil the spiritual eyes of my heart, that I may be able to consider the wondrous mysteries which are hidden from eternity in thy holy and most blessed law. Eleos indeed in Greek is called in Latin misericordia, mercy. For the Lord says in the Gospel: « Be merciful, as your Father also is merciful (Luc. VI). » David the prophet also, refreshed by the superabundant grace of the Holy Spirit, speaks thus of God: « My God, my mercy (Psal. LVIII). » God therefore almighty, ineffably loving and 307 especially clement, who in Isaiah is called oil, 526Ais himself doubtless called merciful in the Gospel and in his Only-begotten Son, and is proclaimed mercy by David the prophet. To the most beloved Son, therefore, of this ineffable and incomparable oil a certain most dear vineyard was made on a most excellent horn, that is, in the humanity which he took from our sinful mass; which humanity so surpassed the remaining mass, from which it was taken, by the power of the divinity that took it, as a horn is wont to surpass that flesh out of which, in rising, it is seen to proceed. But concerning this horn, that is, concerning the incarnation of the Lord Jesus, Zacharias, filled with the grace of the Holy Spirit, said, « Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, because he hath visited and wrought the redemption of his people (Luc. I). » And as though someone were asking of him what mercy the God of Israel 526Bhad done to his people, he straightway added, saying: « He hath raised up a horn of salvation in the house of David his servant (ibid.). » [Vulg. Luc. I, 69 erexit cornu salutis nobis, "a horn of salvation for us"] If we should wish to interpret that horn otherwise than the truth of the matter holds, truth itself, propped upon authority, and authority strengthened by faithful truth, would contradict us. For it is manifest that a royal Virgin of David's stock was chosen, from whom and in whom that horn — that is, our humanity — was taken up by the Word of the Father; and if this had not been done, the human race, which had perished, could in no wise be saved. And this is the horn of salvation which has been raised up for us, namely the Word made flesh for our salvation, which dwelt among us (Joan. I). On this horn, therefore, is the vineyard most dear to the beloved Son of oil; that is, through the humanity which 526Che took, the Son of almighty God acquired holy Church for himself. But that the Son himself is called beloved, his Bride bears witness in the Song of Songs: « My beloved, she says, is white and ruddy (Cant. V). » Ruddy, because of the shedding of blood on the cross; white, because of the prerogative of virginity and chastity. Again in the same little book his most dear Bride speaks thus of the same Bridegroom of hers: « My beloved, she says, shall abide between my breasts (Cant. I). » Holy Church therefore, which in Isaiah is called a vineyard, is herself called Bride in the Song of Songs. This vineyard indeed was made most dear in delights to the beloved Son of oil, from the time when he took flesh from her, since as Paul says: « No man ever hated his own flesh (Ephes. V). » And in another 526Dplace the same Paul more plainly intimates what love the Bridegroom has toward his Bride: « Husbands, he says, love your wives, as Christ loved holy Church and delivered himself up for her (Col. III). » [Vulg. Ephes. V, 25 sicut et Christus dilexit ecclesiam, et se ipsum tradidit pro ea] Whence the same Bridegroom in the Song of Songs says of his Bride: « How beautiful art thou, my love, how beautiful art thou; thy eyes are those of doves! (Cant. I.) » [Vulg. Cant. I, 14 ecce tu pulchra es, amica mea, ecce tu pulchra, oculi tui columbarum] The Bridegroom doubles the beauty of his Bride by repetition for this reason: because he foreknew her a virgin and chaste in soul and in body. And he compared her eyes to doves, because he foresaw that she had that simplicity of faith which heretics lack. But nevertheless, what do we judge this to be that the prophet says, that God hedged in his vineyard, that is, holy Church? holy Church is indeed called a vineyard, 527Anot only in Isaiah, but in the book of the Gospels and in the Song of Songs: in the Gospel, where the householder hired workmen into his vineyard (Matth. XX); but in the Song of Songs, where it is written: « There was a vineyard for the Peaceable One, » and, « Our vineyard hath flourished (Cant. II). » This vineyard, therefore, the Lord surrounded with a hedge, when he fortified it with the sayings of the prophets, and, lest it could be trodden down and torn asunder by heretics, instructed it with apostolic teachings as with a strong garrison. Whence it well indeed follows in the same prophet, that « he picked the stones out of it (Isa. V). » For stones are picked out of a vineyard by men for this reason, that they may be cast out of that vineyard as harmful things. And so the heretics, who in the Gospel are called cockle (Matth. XIII), are themselves called stones in Isaiah the prophet, and 527Bin the Song of Songs are described in elegant speech under the name of foxes, as it is written: « Catch us the little foxes, which destroy our vineyards (Cant. II). » But what the Prophet says: [And he planted it a choice vine], this doubtless is what the Lord says in the Gospel: « Therefore I have chosen you out of the world, that you may go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit may remain (Joan. XV). » [Vulg. Joan. XV, 16 ego elegi vos et posui vos, ut eatis; de mundo stands at verse 19] And Paul the apostle in his Epistles: « I, he says, have planted, » and, of God: « you are the husbandry (I Cor. XIII). » But of the apostles it is said: « These, living in the flesh, planted the Church with their own blood. » The tower too, which the prophet Isaiah testifies to have been built in the midst of the vineyard, is itself the name of the Lord, of which it is said through Solomon: 527C« The name of the Lord is a most strong tower; to it the just man shall flee, and shall be saved (Prov. XVIII). » [Vulg. Prov. XVIII, 10 ad ipsum currit justus et exaltabitur, "the just runneth to it and shall be exalted"] For men flee to a tower for this reason, that they may be freed from the harassing of enemies. And so the name of the Lord is well compared to a tower in which men are saved, since as Peter the apostle says: « For there is no other name given under heaven wherein we must be saved, save in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ (Act. IV). » [Vulg. Act. IV, 12 nec enim aliud nomen est sub caelo datum hominibus, in quo oporteat nos salvos fieri, without the closing clause] But the winepress which was built in the aforesaid vineyard represented to us the figure and image of the most holy altar, since as in a winepress or press the grape is squeezed, and being squeezed is strained into most sweet wine, so gloriously and wondrously each day the body and blood of Christ is consecrated and offered upon the altar. But that which follows in Isaiah, that 527Dthe Lord looked for his vineyard to bring forth grapes, and behold, it brought forth wild grapes — let us understand it as said of heretics and false Christians. For the heretics, who do 308 not consent to the ecclesiastical sacraments, nay rather withstand and fight against them with perverse doctrines, and the false Christians who profess that they know God but by their deeds deny him — these beyond doubt beget and bring to the Lord thorns and wild grapes instead of grapes, that is, useless and harmful fruits. But nevertheless what ought to be done with such men on the day of judgment the prophet makes plain in what follows in his narrative, saying: « Now therefore, men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, judge between me and my vineyard, that is, concerning my vineyard (Isa. V). » [Vulg. Isa. V, 3 habitatores Jerusalem et vir Juda, judicate inter me et inter vineam meam] 528AAnd so by the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem we ought to understand especially the apostles and the other saints, whom without doubt we know to be citizens and inhabitants of that heavenly Jerusalem which is above, our mother. And so to them, all ambiguity removed, the Lord promises in his Gospel, saying: « You who have followed me shall sit upon twelve seats. judging the twelve tribes of Israel (Matth. XIX). » And Paul the apostle: « Know you not, he says, that the saints shall judge the world? (I Cor. VI.) » And in another place it is written of all the saints: « The saints shall judge the nations, and shall rule over the peoples (Sap. III). » Of these apostles, namely, and of the other saints, already exalted before the majesty of God in eternal predestination, Zechariah the prophet, contemplating their glory, 528Bprophesied, saying: « These are the two sons of the oil of splendour who stand before the Ruler of the whole earth (Zachar. IV). » For by the number two the prophet signified the apostles and the other saints for this reason: because there are two precepts of charity, the observance and fulfilling of which makes men saints and friends of God. But who he is that is signified by the oil we have already touched upon above, when that saying from Isaiah was expounded by us. It is to be known, moreover, that in Zechariah the prophet something more is said than in Isaiah. For God almighty, because he himself is both truly merciful and true mercy, is in Isaiah simply called oil, but in Zechariah, with an addition, is named the oil of splendour. And not undeservedly is God the Father 528Calmighty said to be the oil of splendour, since his Only-begotten Son is called by the Apostle the splendour and figure of his substance (Hebr. I). Splendour therefore is the Father, splendour is the Son, splendour none the less is the Holy Spirit; yet they are not three splendours, but one splendour. For indeed in like manner in the catholic faith we believe and declare: God is the Father, God is the Son, God is the Holy Spirit; and yet they are not three gods, but one God. Since therefore, as we said above, eleos in Greek is called in Latin misericors or misericordia, merciful or mercy, consequently by the oil is understood he who is merciful, and God the Father of mercies. If therefore by the oil we take God the Father, it is given us to understand that we should interpret his Son as the splendour of the oil. The oil of splendour, therefore, 528Dand the splendour of the oil, is the unbegotten begetter, and the only-begotten of God the Begetter.

« A vineyard, he says, was made for my beloved on a horn, the son of oil (Isa V). » But what the vineyard is the same prophet declares more plainly when he says: « The vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his delightful plant (ibid.). » Of this vineyard David the prophet also speaks: « Thou hast brought a vineyard, saying, out of Egypt; thou hast cast out the nations, and planted, it (Psal. LXXIX); » and the rest which follows in 529Athat psalm concerning the same vineyard, which can easily be understood without any interpretation. This, I say, is that vineyard, namely the Jewish people, of which the Saviour says in the Gospel: « A certain man, a householder, planted a vineyard, and let it out to husbandmen. And it came to pass, when the time of the vintage drew near, that he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might receive the fruit of the vineyard from the husbandmen. But the husbandmen, seeing the servants of the householder, laid hold on them, and, having afflicted them with many insults, killed them. But the householder, hearing what had happened, said: I will send my only-begotten, most dear son to them; perhaps they will reverence him. But they, seeing the son of their Lord, said one to another: Behold, here is the heir: let him therefore be killed, and so the inheritance will be transferred to us (Luc. XX). » [Vulg. Luc. XX, 9 homo plantavit vineam et locavit eam colonis; and XX, 14 hic est heres, occidamus illum, ut nostra fiat hereditas] Who 529Bthen can more rightly be understood as this householder than God the Father almighty of our Lord Jesus Christ? For he is the true householder, who governs and rules the whole world with clement tenderness, and according to his irreproachable wisdom disposes Christians, Jews, pagans, heretics. For these are the households, of which that householder is said to be father, and whose providence he does not disdain to have. For that same most loving householder provides for the Christians, that is, for his own sons, on this condition, that if they will obey his precepts they may be able to escape the punishments of hell, and may be able to find the unfailing joys of paradise. And that same householder shows that he has care of the Jews, since he waits with clement goodness that they may return to 529Chimself. Pagans and heretics he in no wise drives from his providence, since although, like bad servants, they are ungrateful for his benefits, yet the Lord still waits with patient long-suffering that, leaving their heresies and their idols, they may come back to him. This householder therefore planted a vineyard when he led the Israelite 309 people out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, and made them dwell in the land of promise, the foreign nations having been driven out. And he let it out to husbandmen when he charged the high priests and the scribes and the Pharisees to instruct that same people according to the law of Moses, and to restrain them from the appetite of all evil, so far as is lawful to mortals. And that same householder sent his servants to the aforesaid 529Dvineyard when he appointed the prophets to instruct that same Israelite nation. But the husbandmen, recognizing the servants of their Lord, afflicted several of them with insults, and upon some inflicted an undeserved death. For if we are willing to be more diligently intent upon the pages of Holy Scripture, we shall be able to find very few indeed of the elect who have not either been afflicted with insults by the impious, or unjustly delivered over to a most cruel death. And it is manifest that the most impious Jews condemned Isaiah and Jeremiah to a cruel death, and dishonoured almost all the remaining prophets with many insults and revilings. But the son of the householder who is killed by the husbandmen is the Lord Jesus Christ, who is crucified by the high priests and the scribes and the Pharisees. But let us now return to the foregoing 530Asaying, of which we had purposed to speak under the figure of the Synagogue. « A vineyard, says Isaiah, was made for my beloved, on a horn, the son of oil. Since indeed we have said somewhat, though less than sufficiently, about the vineyard, it now remains that we set forth where the Son of God is called beloved. For in the Gospel it is written that the Holy Spirit came down upon the Lord Jesus in the likeness of a dove, and the voice of the Father was heard, saying: This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him (Luc. IX). » [Vulg. Luc. IX, 35 hic est Filius meus electus, ipsum audite, "my chosen son"] For of this beloved, this most dear one, the Bride speaks in the very book of which we are speaking: « My beloved, she says, to me, and I to him, who feedeth among the lilies, until the day break, and the shadows decline (Cant. II). » As if she said: My beloved shall be joined to me by faith, and therefore 530BI shall be joined to him by faith and by work, who feedeth among the lilies, that is, is delighted with chaste and loving and just works, until the day break, and the shadows decline — that is, until the day of judgment appear, and the images of sins be brought to nothing. To this beloved, therefore, the vineyard on the horn showed itself contrary, that is, the Synagogue exceedingly contradicted the humanity which Christ took; so far that it would never believe in him whom it saw lying open to human sight as a man only, and not as God. This vineyard, I say, was made exceedingly bitter to this beloved, when the Synagogue gave the Lord Jesus gall and vinegar to drink in the humanity wherewith he was clothed. Thou who hearest these things oughtest to remember that I said above that by the horn is to be understood the humanity of the Son of God, 530Cand that from the authority of sacred speech I showed a sufficient reason. But why the Son of God is called by Isaiah the son of oil we ought to repeat in a brief reason, since we have already taught this above sufficiently and fitly. For Oleos in Greek is called misericordia, mercy, in Latin. Since therefore the Father is merciful and is mercy, it stands for certain that Christ is the Son of the God of oil, since he is the Son of the merciful God. This beloved son of oil, therefore, that is, Christ the Son of God, hedged in his vineyard, that is, the Synagogue, when he taught it with the examples and institutions of the patriarchs and fortified it with the books of the prophets, lest, namely, it should admit any other Lord beside himself, and lest that singular wild beast of which the Psalmist complains (Psal. LXXIX), namely the devil, should lay it waste. 530DFor a vineyard is hedged in for this reason, that its fruit may be kept unharmed for the lord of that vineyard, and that its barriers may not be easily unbarred to enemies and to beasts. But as to what is said: « The Lord picked the stones out of it (Isa. V); » it stands that after the election of the apostles that Synagogue was driven out by God and cast off. And of this casting-off it is well found written in Isaiah, where the Lord speaks of Sobna the scribe and provost of the temple: « Behold, says Isaiah, O thou Sobna; behold, he says, the Lord will drive thee out of thy station, and will cause thee to be carried away as a cock is carried away (Isa. XXII). » [Vulg. Isa. XXII, 17 carries no expulsion clause here; the words about the station stand at verse 19 as et expellam te de statione tua] In like manner also it is written of the casting-off of the Synagogue under the person of king Jechonias: « If Jechonias king of Judah were as a ring of gold on my hand, saith the Lord, thence would I pluck him away and cast him off 531A(Jer. XXII). » [Vulg. Jer. XXII, 24 Jechonias filius Joachim rex Juda anulus in manu dextera mea, inde avellam eum] For she was as it were a Bride driven out of her station, when the Synagogue was cast down from that glory of her former state for the desert of her iniquity; and that same Synagogue was carried away as a cock, when, because of her unfruitfulness and imperfection, she was removed from outward understanding and from Jewish superstition. For we know that a cock is a beast castrated and unfruitful, to which the ancient law is well compared, which, as blessed Paul says, brought nothing to perfection; whence it deservedly follows in Isaiah the prophet concerning the same Sobna: « What dost thou here, or as it were who here? (Isa. XXII). » For without doubt we are wont to say "what doest thou here" to him whose work we by no means approve. And "as it were who," not that he truly holds some place as a perfect man, 531Bbut yet does not carry out work worthy of the merits of his office or of his place. We can indeed refer that election of the stones, of which we spoke above, to the kings and prophets whom we do not doubt to have been chosen by God in the Synagogue. But as to what the prophet Isaiah says, that the Lord planted that vineyard a choice vine, it is plainly given us to understand that indeed the kings and prophets and the whole Israelite nation drew their origin from the stock of Abraham, 310 who was chosen by God. But indeed that planting much degenerated from that glorious and fatherly life, from whose root it seemed to draw its shoot. Which degeneration the Lord in the Gospel reproached to the Jews with a most kindly upbraiding, saying: « If you are the seed of Abraham, 531Cdo the works of Abraham; and why do you wish to kill me? this Abraham did not do (Joan. VIII). » [Vulg. Joan. VIII, 39–40 si filii Abrahae estis, "if you are the sons of Abraham"; and nunc autem quaeritis me interficere, "but now you seek to kill me"] For the Jews had greatly degenerated from that glory of the blood of Abraham the patriarch, their father. For Abraham loved, honoured and adored God; but the Israelite nation hated God, dishonoured him, and condemned him on a most cruel cross. But the tower which is said by the prophet to have been built by the Lord in the midst of the vineyard signifies the temple, most famous in ancient times for its dignity, which no one is ignorant was built in the midst of the Jewish nation by the precept of God. But the winepress which stood in the aforementioned vineyard intimates to us the altar which the Israelite nation held in great veneration in the midst of itself. Which altar indeed is well compared to a winepress, 531Dsince as in a winepress many grapes are squeezed and reduced into the liquor of wine, so the divers and many victims which, being placed on the altar, were burned, were referred by their signification to one sacrifice, that is, to Christ. But as to what the prophet says, that the Lord looked for his vineyard to bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes: he announces by manifest tokens that this saying belongs above all to the Jews. Did not the Jews themselves bring wild grapes instead of grapes, when they denied their Creator before the face of Pilate? (Joan. XIX.) Which indeed blessed Peter upbraids to them, saying: « But you asked that a murderer should be given to you, and delivered over to death the author 532Aof life, whom God raised from the dead (Act. III). » [Vulg. Act. III, 15 auctorem vero vitae interfecistis, "but you killed the author of life"] Did not the most wicked Jews make wild grapes for the Lord instead of grapes, when they said to Pilate: « Crucify him; » And: « If thou release this man, thou art no friend of Caesar (Joan. XIX). » Therefore that which Isaiah says in what subseqnentibus: « Now, men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, judge between me and my vineyard (Isa. V), » no one is ignorant belongs to the general resurrection, in which the holy apostles shall judge and condemn that vineyard. This, in fine, the Lord in the Gospel testifies to the Jews themselves as they disparaged him, when he says: « If I, as you say, cast out devils by the prince of devils, by whom do your sons cast them out? (Matth. XII.) » [Vulg. Matth. XII, 27 si ego in Beelzebub ejicio daemones] Therefore they themselves shall be your judges. Which this same prophet Isaiah also declares, 532Bwhen he prophesied of the coming of the Lord and of the holy apostles to the day of judgment, saying: « The Lord will come to judgment with the elders of his people (Isa. III). » [Vulg. Isa. III, 14 Dominus ad judicium veniet cum senibus populi sui et principibus ejus] Solomon too took care to comprise in a brief speech Christ, and holy Church, and the holy apostles, and the day of judgment, when he says: « Noble in the gates is the man of holy Church, when he shall sit with the senators of his people (Prov. XXXI). » [Vulg. Prov. XXXI, 23 nobilis in portis vir ejus, quando sederit cum senatoribus terrae, "her husband… with the senators of the land"] And so the apostles, who in the Gospel are called twelve judges and sons of the Jews according to the flesh, are themselves doubtless called in Isaiah the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the elders of the people, and are named by Solomon the senators of the people. These indeed are the two sons of the oil of splendour whom Zechariah the prophet (Cap. IV) says in the spirit 532Cof prophecy to stand before the Ruler of the whole earth. Which he described by the number two for this reason, that he foresaw in the prophetic spirit that they would preach the divinity and the humanity of Christ. Further, that which the same prophet says: « These are they who stand before the Ruler of the whole earth, » let us understand to have been said not only of the apostles, but also of all the saints. Whence the Domiuus himself in his Gospel says: « Father, I will that where I am, there also may my minister be (Joan. XII). » [Vulg. Joan. XII, 26 ubi sum ego, illic et minister meus erit, "where I am, there also shall my minister be"] Which blessed Augustine also, the excellent doctor and most faithful defender of the catholic faith, testifies when he says: « Let us know for certain that after the ascension of the Lord to the heavens all the souls of the saints are with Christ, and going out from the body they go to Christ, as it is written: The souls of the just 532Dare in the hand of God (Sap. III), awaiting the resurrection of their body, that they may enjoy together with Christ an entire and perpetual beatitude. In like manner also the souls of sinners are set in hell, awaiting under fear the resurrection of their body, that with the devil they may be turned to eternal punishment.

Although it is exceedingly grave and perilous that an unskilled and ill-mannered man should dispute about the good morals of men, yet we ought in no wise, with drowsy senses, to neglect that we are bidden always and without interval to bless and praise God, as 533Athe Psalmist says: « I will bless the Lord at all times, his praise shall be ever in my mouth (Psal. XXXIII). » For indeed if we wish to wait so long to speak of the good, until we are good; or if we keep silence about perfection so long until we are perfect. And if again we are silent from the praises of God up to the point at which we shall be worthy to praise God, it is plain assuredly that we shall nowhere praise God, since, as must be, we shall in no wise ever in this life be good and perfect and worthy of the praises of God. Let not, therefore, good will fail us, although effectual power be lacking; and so at length we shall be able, God enlarging us, to attain that we may be good and perfect and 311 fit for the praises of God. But now let us examine this saying under the moral interpretation, namely: « Thy name is oil poured out; therefore the maidens 533Bhave loved thee (Cant. I). » Blessed is that man, though he be mortal, whose name for the desert of a good life has already obtained so great a prerogative that it can truly be said to him: « Thy name is oil poured out, » therefore the maidens have loved thee. Assuredly such a man is greatly to be sought, and when he has been found, he is to be loved in no middling degree. For he who lives well and religiously in the world, and out of his substance gives large alms for God, and does not do to another what he does not wish to be done to himself, and who in all his works seeks that God be praised, and who so shows himself that he is venerated by all men for his holiness — to him doubtless it can be said: « Thy name is oil poured out, » therefore the maidens, that is, the faithful souls, have loved thee. In like manner he who goes to conversion 533Cand in the cloister lives well and holily and religiously, and who by the good report of a blameless life animates and draws others, that they may be converted to the Lord, and moreover who by dove-like peace and brotherly love makes himself lovable to the minds of his brethren, so far that he is loved by all with a pure intention of mind — to him without doubt it ought to be said: « Thy name is oil poured out; therefore the maidens, » that is, the souls of the brethren, « have loved thee. » Moreover, as to what we set down above in the first recapitulation, that the Lord charged Moses to tell the children of Israel to bring oil from the olive trees: if we are true Israelites, in whom there is no guile, our spiritual Moses (Exod. 533DXXVII) likewise charges us — namely the Lord Jesus Christ — that we bring him oil from the olive trees, that is, that we follow and imitate the examples and actions of the holy Fathers, who by the works of mercy are known to have pleased God in former times; but nevertheless, since obscurity in the divine page is not good, nay is exceedingly harmful to the less capable, I judge it worthy to discourse somewhat more widely about the olive trees and about the oil, so far as what we wish to say may answer to a clearer sense. The olive trees, therefore, are our holy Fathers, of whom blessed Paul says: "These are men of mercy, whose righteousnesses have not received forgetfulness before God." These indeed are the olive trees of which the Lord says in the Gospel: « A good tree cannot bring forth evil 534Afruits (Luc. VI). » [Vulg. Luc. VI, 43 non est arbor bona quae facit fructus malos; the wording here is that of Matth. VII, 18] The oil of these trees is every work good, loving, modest, chaste, religious and holy. But that by the oil a good work ought to be understood, the Gospel according to Matthew most plainly declares: « The kingdom of heaven is like, he says, to ten virgins, and the rest which follows there (Matth. XXV). » [Vulg. Matth. XXV, 1 simile erit regnum caelorum, future "shall be like"] With which saying Solomon seems well enough to agree, who among his other words speaks thus: « At all times let thy garments be white, and let oil not be lacking from thy head (Eccle. IX). » Our garments, therefore, are the members of our body, with which cuibus our soul is clothed, while it tarries in this little body according to the disposition of God. Which members ought always to be white, since they ought not to lie under any sin. 534BFor thus says Isaiah the prophet: « A garment, he says, mingled with blood shall be for the burning of fire (Isa. IX). » [Vulg. Isa. IX, 5 erit in combustionem et cibus ignis, "shall be for burning, and fuel for the fire"] And moreover the Apostle says: « Let not sin reign in your mortal body, so that you obey its concupiscences (Rom. VI). » And again: « As, he says, you presented your members to serve uncleanness unto iniquity, so now to present your members to serve justice unto sanctification (ibid.). » [Vulg. Rom. VI, 19 ita nunc exhibete membra vestra, imperative "so now present ye your members"] But oil is never lacking from our head when our mind always abounds in loving work and in good desire. And it wishes to do continually more, if it could be done, than it can ever bring to perfection; whence the Psalmist says: « My soul hath coveted to long for thy justifications at all times (Psal. CXVIII). » Oil, therefore, 534Cfrom the olive trees we offer to God when through works of piety and of justice we strive to please him, by which we do not doubt that our fathers of old pleased him. Moreover, that the oil which was offered to God was of the purest, Moses did not without cause so express, since he foreknew that it would come to our knowledge. For that same prophet could have said Potera pure or purer oil, but he chose rather to set down "purest," that he might silently intimate to us in what manner we ought to examine our work, whereby we intend to please God himself, who is the highest purity. For oil is pure then, when in its outward showing our work lacks sin. But then it is made purer, when in our speech also 534Dno sin is repeated. And if our mind, when it girds itself to perform a good work, is able inwardly to shun vain glory, then assuredly it is the purest oil which it will offer to God in the sacrifice of its own heart. And that the same oil is said to have been pounded with a pestle, I judge in no way to be passed over out of negligence. For the pounding of the pestle signifies the tribulations and pressures of this world. What then does the oil beaten with a pestle intimate to us, but that we ought to imitate the actions and examples of those fathers whom we know, according to the Apostle (Hebr. XI), to have entered into the kingdom of God through many tribulations? But that it is commanded that a lamp burn always before God in the tabernacle of the testimony (Exod. XXVII), this doubtless signifies that the intention 312 of our heart ought never 535Ato be withdrawn from the consideration and contemplation of the majesty of God, as the heart of him never withdrew from God who said: « The meditation of my heart is ever in thy sight (Psal. XVIII). » For the lamp of thy body, as the Lord says in the Gospel (Marc. VI), is thine eye. Which eye our holy Fathers have interpreted as the intention of the mind, or the sincere affection of the mind. And by the tabernacle of the testimony our body can not undeservedly be understood, whence blessed Peter says: « I know, brethren, that the laying aside of my tabernacle is swift, according as the Lord Jesus Christ has vouchsafed to reveal to me (II Petr. I). » [Vulg. II Petr. I, 14 certus quod velox est depositio tabernaculi mei… significavit mihi, "being sure… hath signified to me"] In this tabernacle, therefore, that is, in our body, a lamp ought always to burn before the Lord, since a simple and pure 535Bintention of the mind ought unremittingly to have dominion over our body, and we ought never to suffer anything to have dominion over our mind which we know to be displeasing in the sight of our judge. Or, the lamp shines unremittingly in our tabernacle when the fervour of charity never grows lukewarm in our heart. For thus that lamp of charity shone again in the heart of Paul with the brightness of a wondrous clearness, so that the same Paul said: « The charity of God is poured forth in our hearts by the indwelling Spirit, who is given to us (Rom. V). » [Vulg. Rom. V, 5 per Spiritum Sanctum, qui datus est nobis, "by the Holy Spirit"] Or, the lamp shines without failing of brightness in the tabernacle of the testimony, when our heart, through the infusion of the Holy Spirit, unremittingly thinks upon the things which are of God. As therefore we have examined the chapter in the book of Exodus according to the moral sense, 535Cso it is fitting that we discourse morally upon that saying taken from Isaiah. « A vineyard, he says, was made for my beloved on a horn, the son of oil. » O how blessed is that soul which, by working truly and lovingly, is made the vineyard of God! But now let us consider what a vineyard is, and of what a vineyard consists, and let us transfer its earthly working into moral and spiritual building-up. A vineyard indeed is seen to consist of vines, and it is called vitis because by force it holds itself in the place where it is planted. Whosoever therefore desires to be a vine or a vineyard, it is needful that he in no wise let go the purpose of holiness and religion which he took up for God, that he be not dissolved by prosperity, nor broken by adversities, knowing that the kingdom of heaven suffers violence and the violent bear it away 535D(Matth. XI). But this too, that the vine, against the custom of other trees, transmits through its pith to the tops of its branches the moisture which it draws from the earth, is by no means to be considered without wonder at a mighty mystery. For other trees take up the moisture from the earth between the bark and the strength of their wood, and pour that same moisture into the little branches proceeding from themselves, that they may be able to bear fruit. What then does this signify, that the vine conceives its moisture in the pith, that is, in its inner part, which afterward it diffuses abundantly through the outer branches? Doubtless the perfect soul of each faithful man, whose body, though it appear publicly before men, yet in the presence of God remains in secret, since he strives to please God more inwardly than men 536Aor the world outwardly; whence the Psalmist says: « All the glory of the king's daughter is from within (Psal. XLIV). » Hence Paul also says: « This is our glory, the testimony of our conscience (II Cor. I). » A mystery of this kind can further be considered in the vine, which, against the manner of other trees, carries its sap in the inner pith, wherewith little by little it afterward waters the outer branches that spring from it by natural birth. For holy men pour into religious men, through the showing forth of good work and the preaching of the heavenly word, the charisms of the Holy Spirit which they receive by God's hidden bounty in the secret place of their heart; and after the manner of a good vine, what is wrought in them invisibly is shown forth visibly without. There is moreover another thing which can be said of the vine 536Bwith reasonable authority, and which can be found in the divine sayings by the prudent skill of illustrious clerics. For this tree, namely the vine, is lowly in its stature, and, so long as it lives, adorned with leaves, fragrant with flowers, pleasing to all eyes with its budded fruits. But if it has been cut off, by however much it was before more dear, more precious, more acceptable and more lovable, by so much afterward it stands more vile, more degenerate and more useless. Which indeed the Lord makes plain through the prophet Ezekiel, when he says: « Son of man, what shall be done with the wood of the vine, which is precious above all the other woods of the forests? (Ezech. XV.) » [Vulg. Ezech. XV, 2 quid fiet ligno vitis ex omnibus lignis nemorum quae sunt inter ligna silvarum, without pretiosum, "precious"] Shall anything of work be made of it, if it has been cut off? Shall a peg be fashioned of it, that any vessel may hang upon it? It is useful for nothing, save 536Cthat it be cast into the fire. And what these things signify is more plainly opened when a discourse is found concerning the children of Israel in what follows. But the children of Israel themselves, so long as they obeyed the commandments of God, and did not depart from his worship, stood fast in their comeliness like a good vine with flower and fruit. But after they began to contradict his precepts, and moreover inflicted the punishment of the cross upon him who is the author of life, they were assigned to eternal fire like a useless and lopped-off vine. In like manner also the Christians who have been imbued with the ecclesiastical sacraments, who have been instructed in faith and work by the doctors of the Church, so long as within the bosom of that same Church they exercise their faith by good works, so long do they flourish, like a fruit-bearing vine in the vineyard of God, with the greenness of faith. But if, 536Dwhich God forbid! they slip into some heresy, and, the grace to which they were long ago handed over being abandoned, of their own accord are tainted with depraved doctrines: do not these deservedly, for their 313 iniquity, hand themselves over to avenging flames like a lopped-off and useless vine? To whom beyond doubt that most elegantly agrees which Moses the prophet says in his canticle: « Their vineyard is of the vineyard of Sodom, as far as that place where he says in the person of God: Vengeance is mine, and I will repay them — it is understood, on the day of judgment, which they deserve (Deut. XXXII). » But what shall I say of converts and religious men who, as the Lord declares in the Gospel (Luc. VIII), believe for a time, and in the time of temptation fall away? For I have known not a few men of great religion and of a purpose lofty enough, 537Awhom would that I had not known, who, so long as it is allowed them in their cloisters to exercise their own will, or to wander and run about through the workshops of the cloister, and through the whole world, and among their kinsfolk, so long are they kept within the enclosures of the monastery under the appearance of religion of some sort, in name only, although, as I said above, with a lost mind and a flighty spirit they stray through the whole world. To whom indeed that well applies which the Lord says through the prophet: « Ephraim is become as a dove seduced, having no heart; strangers have devoured his strength, and he knew it not (Osee. VII). » For the strangers are the demons, and the vices that fight against us, and evil thoughts, and carnal concupiscences, which estrange us from God, if by our own sloth they obtain the chief place in us. 537BOf these strangers indeed David complains, saying: « Since indeed strangers have risen up against me, and the strong have sought after my soul (Psal. LIII). » Solomon too says: « Give not thy honour to strangers (Prov. V). » And as though we were asking of Solomon who these strangers were, he straightway added: « and thy years to the cruel one (ibid.), » namely, the devil, of whom the Lord testifies: « Because he was a murderer from the beginning (Joan. VIII). » For he who has been evilly given over to the aforesaid strangers, that is, to the demons and to the vices and concupiscences, while he lives in the race-course of this present life, he beyond doubt after this life shall be delivered into the power of Satan, that is, of this cruel one. For this is that cruel one who in Isaiah (cap. XIX) is written to persecute men cruelly.

537CThese religious, then — if indeed they are to be called religious who bear themselves as we have just now depicted, or even, which is a shame to say, still worse — if at any time they are corrected by their masters for their own salvation, or if they are constrained to sit in their own cloister and to keep their own order, straightway, the fear of God being cast off and the purpose of their religion and of their order forsaken, leaping out of their cloister unruly under the pretext of a stricter religion, they range as gyrovagues through the diverse parts of the round world, or — alas the grief! — what is more infamous, they return to the world. To whom assuredly that fittingly belongs which the blessed apostle Peter says in his epistle: « The dog returned to his own vomit, and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire (II Petr. II). » And: 537D« It were better for them not to have known the way of truth, than after the knowledge of it to go backward (ibid.). » [Vulg. II Petr. 2:21 viam justitiae, "the way of justice"] These converts therefore, so long as they abode in the holy purpose, so long did they stand as it were a vine of Sorech, that is, a chosen vine, in the vineyard of God, rooted and founded in charity. But now they are estranged backward, turned into a reprobate sense, and, according to the prophet Ezechiel, made utterly useless and degenerate, they avail for nothing further, save that they be cast into the fire and burn. Farther, therefore, from the order of our narration have we digressed, while we disputed of the nature of the vine and of the vineyard; nevertheless it is now a fitting time that we return to that which we had begun. « A vineyard, says Isaias (cap. V), was made most dear to my beloved, on a horn, the son of oil. » [Vulg. Isa. 5:1 Vinea facta est dilecto meo in cornu filio olei, without charissima] 538AThe beloved, therefore, is he to whom the bride in the Song of Songs sends her legates, saying: « Tell my beloved that I languish for love of him (Cant. V). » O how happy, and how blessed is the soul that languishes with the love of God! In it, without doubt, the love of the deceiver of this world has now utterly perished. And the deceitful glory of the flowing age has been brought to nothing. To this her beloved bridegroom that same most dear bride still speaks amid delights in the same little book. « Come, my Beloved, let us go forth into the field, let us see if the vineyard hath flourished, if the flowers bring forth the fruits of brightness and of good working (Cant. VII). » But surely, he says, this vineyard was made most dear, that is, our soul, to this beloved son of oil, namely of almighty God, on a horn, to wit. It is plain to all, or at least to such as are illumined with a rare sense 538Band understanding, that every horn exceeds the flesh out of which it issues; and therefore not undeservedly is every spiritual virtue taken by the horn. Whence also Moses the prophet, for the excellence of his merits and the singular prerogative of the spiritual virtues wherein he wholly flourished, alone among mortals appeared horned from the fellowship of speaking with God; as it is written: When Moses had come down from Mount Sinai, he knew not that it was horned (Exod. XXXIV), that is, that his face was glorious and admirable, from the familiarity of converse with God. But the Lord Jesus also, who before Moses — nay, before the world was made — existed as God, yet after Moses in the last times appeared to this world as mortal man through the mystery of the Incarnation, is declared by the prophet Habacuc (Habac. 538CIII) to have horns in his hands, in which assuredly his greatest strength is discerned to have been. For thus it is written in the Canticle of the same prophet: « Horns are in his hands (ibid.), » namely Christ's, and in what follows: « There, he says, is his strength hidden, there shall death fall down in his sight (ibid.). » [Vulg. Hab. 3:5 ante faciem ejus ibit mors, "before his face shall go death"] Moreover, if we were minded now to bring into the midst whatever the divine eloquences are wont to utter concerning these spiritual horns, the day would more easily fail 314 us than the abundance of matter for speaking. But neither will we be silent altogether. « The horns of the just, says the Psalmist, shall be exalted (Psal. LXXIV). » Who is so dull and so stupid as to dare say that a just man has horns? But the virtues of the just man are his horns, wherewith 538Dhe himself fights against the devil, and whereby he is lifted up and exalted before God. Let Isaias then say that the vineyard was made most dear to the beloved son of oil, that is, that our soul, on account of the virtues which it has, is loved and held in great honour by the Only-begotten Son of God; and this is what is said through the prophet: « If thou shalt separate the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth (Jer. XV). » For to separate the precious from the vile is to discern virtues from vices. But who is the son of oil? Since it has now been said very often, to repeat the same thing so many times is exceedingly tedious. But as to what the Prophet says, that the Lord fenced the vineyard, it befits us to understand that fencing assuredly of our own soul, which is the spiritual vineyard of God. O how glorious and how illustrious in virtues is that soul, of which God has so great 539Acare, that it is fenced by him with loving diligence! For thus the Lord himself says through the prophet: « I will hedge up thy ways, and thou shalt go after thy lovers, and shalt not overtake them, and then thou shalt say: I will return to my former husband, because it was better with me than it now is (Osee II). » [Vulg. Osee 2:6–7 runs in the third person, sepiam viam tuam spinis … et sequetur amatores suos et non apprehendet eos … et dicet: vadam et revertar ad virum meum priorem] Moreover, tarrying a little upon this matter, it is pleasing to consider in what manner they that enclose gardens make their fences. For a most blessed soul is called by God, morally, an enclosed garden. It is indeed known to all that fences are made of stakes and of rods, in such wise namely that the stakes, fixed below, cleave to the earth on the one part, but on the other part look upward into heaven with heads erect. Afterwards, moreover, rods are interwoven crosswise, and in such fashion the fence guarding God's garden is completed. Nevertheless, 539Bwhat can we more rightly call the stakes of this spiritual fence but the saints of God, who, although they still tarry on earth for the infirmity of the flesh, are yet assiduously with Christ in heaven, and cleave to him with spiritual desires? whence one of such spiritual stakes, dwelling on earth, said: « But our conversation is in the heavens (Philipp. III). » And what are the rods, but their examples and good works, and their catholic doctrines? With these stakes therefore and with rods of this sort God fences his vineyard, because by the examples and teachings of his saints he daily tills, teaches, instructs and admonishes the souls of his faithful. Hence it is that David said: « The Lord shall send an Angel round about them that fear him, and shall keep them (Psal. XXXIII). » [Vulg. Ps. 33:8 immittet angelus Domini in circuitu timentium eum et eripiet eos, "the angel of the Lord shall encamp round about them that fear him, and shall deliver them"] Another prophet likewise no less testifies in 539Cthe person of God, saying: « He that toucheth you, toucheth the apple of my eye (Zach. II), » it plainly stands that among all the members which a man has, the apple of the eye appears the more tender and the more delicate. If therefore we are of such authority that we are made equal to the apple of God's eye, we ought not to be ungrateful for his benefit, but it is needful that we so live that we may deserve from him to be kept and fenced like a good vineyard. That also which the prophet Isaias so greatly expresses, so as to assert that God chose out stones from his vineyard. Let us not doubt that it was said of our soul, if indeed, as we have already proved above, we shall have been the vineyard of God by living spiritually. For the stones that are in God's vineyard can be understood as vices and concupiscences and unclean desires also, which, as 539Dstones make a vineyard barren, so all these make our soul barren. But now God is to be entreated, that he himself may deign to choose out and cast forth the stones from that vineyard, that is, to root out of our soul all the vices that displease him; that so our soul, as a good branch abiding in him who is the true vine, may hear with the apostles: « Without me ye can do nothing, and as the branch is not able to bring forth fruit unless it abide in the vine, so neither can ye unless ye abide in me (Joan. XV). » But as to what Isaias says in the sequel of his narration, that « God planted his chosen vineyard, » let us know that these things pertain morally to our body and to our soul. « For man was made to the image of God, and to 540Ahis likeness (Gen. I). » That planting was assuredly choice enough, which was created to the likeness and image of God. Moreover in the book of Wisdom it is found written: « God made man simple and upright, but he himself mingled himself with infinite questions (Eccle. VII). After these things, says Isaias, God built a tower in the midst of his vineyard. » [Vulg. Eccle. 7:30 quod fecerit Deus hominem rectum, without simplicem] If therefore our soul desires to be God's vineyard, it behoves it without doubt to have a tower built by God in the midst of itself. For a tower, when it is constructed, is raised up from the bottom in quadrangular form. Build therefore, O Lord God, in my vineyard a quadrangular tower, that is, found and cause to be rooted in our soul those four virtues, namely prudence, fortitude, justice, temperance, 540Band in our body no less abstinence, sobriety, chastity, true penitence. But let the remaining virtues be the stones of this spiritual building. And let the cement which binds and embraces the stones be charity itself, without which no work is said to be good, and in which every good work is made solid and founded; for thus says Paul: « Be ye rooted and founded in charity (Ephes. III). » « A winepress, says Isaias, the Lord built in his vineyard. » Known to all is the work that is done in a winepress. For in the winepress the grapes are pressed out, and being pressed out they melt, that they may be turned into most sweet wine. Although therefore the Lord says of his passion through the prophet: « I have trodden the winepress alone, and of the Gentiles there is not a man with me (Isa. 540CLXIII), » yet there is still another spiritual winepress, 315 which would that the Lord Jesus might deign to build in the vineyard of our body. For holy compunction, and the pouring out of blessed tears for the love of Christ, ought not unfittingly to be called the winepress of the soul. This spiritual winepress that most dear bride amid delights had built within her, who in the Song of Songs, sighing of her Bridegroom, said: « My soul melted, as my Beloved spoke to me (Cant. V). » There is shown therefore in this sentence the inestimable and incomparable affection of the Bride toward her bridegroom, who loved him with so sincere a love that she was even wholly melted at his word. Nevertheless with a far ampler affection and 540Da loftier charity does that same bridegroom love that same bride of his, who for love of her not only came down from heaven a little lower than the angels, but even came as far as the punishment of an ignominious death. Which indeed the prophet Jeremias attests in his lamentations, saying: « The Lord hath trodden the winepress for the virgin daughter of Juda (Thren. I). » For that most blessed soul, which in the Song of Songs is called the Bride, is in Jeremias named the virgin daughter of Juda. Now the soul wedded to God is called a virgin because of the integrity of faith, and the chastity of the body wherewith she is clothed. But daughter of Juda, for the humble confession of sins and the glorious perseverance in the praises of God. For Juda is interpreted confession, which is referred to the confession of offences and to the praise of God. 541AAlthough many things still remain that might be said of the winepress, yet I judge that these can suffice for modern hearers, who, listening willingly, are studious of brevity, and lest the volume, drawn out at greater length, weigh down the minds of tedious hearers. Truly, ought we so far to fear to offend the slothful and the tedious, that we should leave undone that which can help and instruct and edify strenuous men, exercised in the meditation of God's law? By no means. Let us see then what it is that follows in the prophet Isaias. And the Lord, says Isaias, looked for his vineyard to bring forth grapes, and behold, alas the grief! it brought forth wild grapes. Which sentence assuredly is rather to be feared than expounded. « For behold, says the apostle James, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit 541Bof the earth, patiently bearing till he receive the early and the latter. Be ye also patient, and strengthen your hearts in the service of God until the Lord himself come (Jacob. V). » [Vulg. Jac. 5:8 confirmate corda vestra quoniam adventus Domini appropinquavit, "for the coming of the Lord is at hand"] Moreover, that we may not leave wholly undiscussed what was said above, that the Lord looked for his vineyard to bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes, it must be said in few words that woe indeed to those who are waited for by their Creator throughout their whole life that they may bear fruit, and at last, the course of the present life being finished, appear fruitless. For generally all Christians who have received the faith, and are imbued with the works of faith, if they live ill, if they close their last day without the working of faith, beyond doubt bring forth wild grapes instead of grapes. But 541Cthou also, whosoever art called a convert, though thou seem for a time to be within the compass of a monastery or of a cloister, if before thy last day comes upon thee thou withdrawest from 542Aholy conversion and from the service of God, without doubt (if it can be said) thou makest — more than, alas the grief! — wild grapes for the Lord thy God instead of grapes. Nevertheless those are blessed and happy who, by an opposite turn, bring precious grapes instead of wild grapes to God who awaits them unto salvation. These are assuredly they who once clove to this deceitful world with excessive love, but afterwards, perceiving that they had erred, were converted with the whole affection of the heart to holy religion, and, the vanity of the world despised, delivered themselves over with all their strength to the service of God. Of whom the prophet Zacharias seems to me to say: « These are the sons of the oil of splendour who stand before the Ruler of the whole earth (Zach. IV). But since we have very often already premised above that oil signifies mercy, and mercy designates him of whom 542Bthe Psalmist says: My God, my mercy (Psal. LVIII), » [Vulg. Zach. 4:14 isti sunt duo filii olei, "these are the two sons of oil", without splendoris] this we avoid repeating again, lest we beget loathing in our hearers. But this stands for certain, that if God is called oil, they who are the sons of oil can equally be called also the sons of God. To which sentence the blessed apostle John accords with a consonant voice, saying: « Brethren, we are the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be. We know that when he shall appear we shall be like to him, because we shall see him as he is (Joan. III). » [Vulg. I Joan. 3:2 carissimi, "dearly beloved", and the perfect nondum apparuit, "it hath not yet appeared"] Let us consider then who he is that speaks. He was a convert indeed, he was an apostle and an Evangelist, he had renounced the world, and therefore he said boldly: « We are the sons of God. » It is manifest therefore that he who more perfectly 542Crenounces the world, and more familiarly, after the manner of the apostles, cleaves to God, is a son of God, and can truly be so called.

541Here ends the third Tome.

541CAs we approach the exposition of the fourth Tome of this book, it befits us to invoke with pure mind and utmost intention 316 him who on the fourth day, by making the lights of heaven, gave light to the world, that he may deign to bring in upon us the veil of the letter of the Old Testament, so that according to his will we may be able to find the spiritual sense in letters covered with a darker robe. For indeed a great veil set over that sentence, namely: « Draw me after thee. As in the eightfold work of God in the book of Genesis, and in the eight sentences of Amos the prophet, where it is said: For three crimes of Damascus, and for four, I will not turn (Amos I), » and in the eightfold vision of Zacharias the prophet. Nevertheless, these sentences being a little tasted beforehand, let us direct our stylus to those things we premised above, and let us search out by spiritual investigation whose is this voice that says: Draw me after thee, or to whom it speaks. That this voice is holy Church's, which says: Draw me after thee, no wise man doubts: but that her bridegroom is 542CChrist the Son of God, to whom she herself speaks, all the authority of the New as well as of the Old Testament proclaims with a consonant voice. But it is greatly to be wondered at, for what reason holy Church asks to be drawn by the Son of God, that is, by her Bridegroom, since indeed that spiritual attraction belongs chiefly to the Father by the authority of his Son. For thus the same Son of God says of the same most dear Father of his in the Gospel: « No man cometh to me, unless my Father hath drawn him (Joan. VI). » [Vulg. Joan. 6:44 nemo potest venire ad me nisi Pater qui misit me traxerit eum, "no man can come to me, except the Father, who hath sent me, draw him"] Finally that same most loving Father says of the same illustrious and fore-chosen Bride of his Son, that is, of holy Church, through Jeremias the prophet: « I have loved thee with a perpetual charity, therefore have I drawn thee, having mercy on thee (Jere. XXXI). » It must be confessed therefore that God the Father, by the abundance of his sweetness, in the invisible love of inward charity, has drawn the mind of his Son's Bride to this, that she herself, that same most dear Bride, should ask to be drawn by that same Bridegroom of hers, namely the Son of God. But surely, O thou hearer, do not believe that drawing to be violent which the Bride longs to have done to her by her Bridegroom. 543AFor it is not violent, but is in all ways charitable and voluntary. Hence it is indeed that the Psalmist, inflamed with spiritual desire, that he may be able worthily to utter the praises of God, draws in the grace of the Holy Spirit, as it is written: « I opened my mouth, and drew in the Spirit (Psal. CXVIII), » — the holy is understood; and for what he had drawn him in he manifestly subjoined, saying: « because I desired thy commandments (ibid.). » It is given us therefore to understand that the grace of the Holy Spirit is drawn in by the desire of God's commandments. There is besides another drawing, greatly to be praised and approved, when someone is known to be set in some anguish, and his friend, having compassion and grieving with him, bears up that same anguish with him by grieving together, that he may be able to free him from that same 543Banguish. In such wise also it comes about that he who by the help and compassion of his friend is freed from that anguish is constrained to love that same friend of his more than he was wont, and is drawn by a wondrous and inestimable affection of charity to the love of him. In this most loving manner therefore holy Church, kindled with the divine love of charity, having considered the compassion of unspeakable tenderness which Christ had of her when he underwent death for her, says: Draw me after thee; as if she said: As thou hast died for me, so grant me that I may be able to die for thee. Or else draw me after thee, that is, make me to come to the knowledge of thy majesty, so that no longer through a glass and in a dark manner, but face to face (I Cor. XIII) I may be able to see how thou art in the Father, and the Father in thee, and how 543Cthe Holy Spirit proceeds from thee and from the Father. We will run in the odour of thy ointments, this voice seems to be that of the maidens, that is, of the faithful souls, speaking to the Bridegroom. Our mother holy Church, confident in the excellence of her merits in her stronger members, that is, the apostles and martyrs, beseeches thee that she may deserve to come to the knowledge of thy majesty; but we maidens, that is, the weaker and feebler yet faithful souls, have not yet laboured so much for thee that we dare sigh after the inaccessible light in which thou dwellest, but we will run in the odour of thy ointments, that is, by living well in this world we shall follow the examples of thy saints, that after death we may be able to come to their fellowship. Or else we will run in the odour 543Dof thy ointments, that is, we shall walk the way of thy commandments, that, enlarged by thy charity, we may be able to receive within the armaliolum of our heart the charisms of the Holy Spirit. Let us run therefore, most dear brethren, in the odour of God's ointments, that it may be said of us: « Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord (Psal. CXVIII). » Let us run, I say, with the apostle Paul (Philip. III) so that we may lay hold with him, namely, of everlasting life; for he runs well who, living piously and justly, closes the last day of his life with a religious end. Lastly, he who runs forsakes the place in which he was, and stretches toward the place in which he was not. So therefore let us forsake the glory of this world, let us flee the concupiscences and pleasures 544Aof this age, let us with Paul be emulous (I Cor. XII) of the better charisms, which are the ointments giving forth odour, that is, the gifts of the Holy Spirit, that, drawn out of the pit of misery and out of the mire of dregs, we may be able to come to the perpetual joys of paradise.

317 By the help of him who said: « If I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all things to myself (Joan. XII), » we have spoken above of that sentence which is in the Song of Songs, namely draw me after thee. It remains now that, by the same one's aid, we speak concerning the sevenfold or eightfold work of God, to his praise, and bring to light for what reason each several work agrees with the eight ages of this world; nevertheless 544Bit is first needful that we distinguish the world by eight ages, and so at length we shall the more rightly assign each several work, one by one, to the several distinctions of the ages. The first age therefore of this world was from Adam unto Noe. The second, from Noe unto Abraham. The third, from Abraham unto Moses. The fourth was from Moses unto David. The fifth, from David unto the coming of Christ. In the sixth age came the Lord Jesus Christ, which age lasted until that time in which persecution ceased in holy Church. The seventh age is that very one which is now being passed, until the day of judgment. The eighth will be the age after the day of judgment is done, which shall lack an end. Truly this is exceedingly marvellous, that the things which God is read to have done in those seven days agree, in an elegant order and 544Cmost wise reason, with those seven or eight aforesaid ages. Let us hasten therefore to the discussing of the work of the first day, and, relying on the most holy inspiration of him who made the first day, let not our mind be afraid to bring to light what of sacrament that work contains in itself, saving the exposition of the holy Fathers in every kind. « In the beginning, says Moses, God made heaven and earth (Gen. I). » [Vulg. Gen. 1:1 creavit, "created" — as the same verse is printed below in this very chunk] O Moses, God's lodger! O secret unsealer of the divine mysteries! Who made known to thee that God in the beginning made heaven and earth, unless that same one who founded all these things to the praise and honour and glory of his name? But in what beginning? In that one assuredly who says in the Gospel: « I am the beginning, who speak to you (Joan. VIII). » In him, I say, of whom 544DJohn the evangelist testifies: « In the beginning was the Word, and all things were made by him (Joan. I). » In him, I say, of whom the Psalmist says to the Father: « And thou in the beginning, O Lord God the Father, in thy Son didst found the earth, and the heavens are the works of thy hands (Psal. CI). » [Vulg. Ps. 101:26 initio tu Domine terram fundasti et opera manuum tuarum sunt caeli, without Deus Pater and without hoc in tuo Filio] Consider, O most kindly hearer, and most placid lover of spiritual eloquences, that only two things shine forth in the work of the first day: namely the Creator who founded the creature, and the creature which was made by her God, and which now serves him. Nothing else therefore wilt thou be able to find at all in that work, though thou search that work of the first day for a thousand years. For the creature is there declared to have been made by God the Father through the Son; 545Athe Holy Spirit over the waters, that he might sanctify them for us unto the grace of his baptism, is likewise proclaimed to be borne there. And as the holy Trinity is shown in Father and Son and Holy Spirit by the effect of the work, so the work itself which was made in a certain manner represents in itself the likeness of the most holy and undivided Trinity. For everything that was created by God, from the moment it was created, had being, lay subject to quantity, and it behoved it to lie under quality. Let us make clear then what we have said, lest perchance we leave the sense of a simple hearer beset with obscurity. It is manifest that whatever is, has being either through itself, or with another, or through another, or in no way. God alone is only through himself, but that which was created by him, so that it may subsist through him who 545Bcreated it, must needs be through itself; and to be without another is discerned to be one, which properly pertains to God. To be through another, and not to be able to be without another, is proved to be proper to a creature, which apart from its Creator is not able to be, even if in some manner it seem to be. But that which was created lies subject to quantity, because it is either small, or great, or middling. And a creature is necessarily under the laws of quality, since it is either white, or black, or coloured with a middle colour. Behold, in a few words, God inspiring, our stylus makes plain how reasonably every creature represents in itself the image of the holy undivided Trinity. Moreover, if we shall have searched out still more subtly with inward eyes the very surface of this sacred page, 545Cwe shall find all the laws of those seven arts which according to philosophy are called liberal. For, that we may come to the art of rhetoric, according to the modes of speech which are called flowers, the first sentence, namely: « In the beginning God created heaven and earth, » is discerned to be of one member. But the second sentence, to wit « the earth was void and empty, and darkness was upon the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God was borne over the waters, » they will confess with a clear voice to be of three members, who glory in the skill or the prerogative of that art. Truly this we ought by no means to pass over in silence, that that first sentence which is of one member preaches to us one God; but the second, which is of three members, no less confirms and declares to us that the same God is true, who consists of one substance and 545Dof three persons. For the confirming of the firmament of our faith, which proceeds from the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, and which is repeated not only in this book, 318 but also in all the divine volumes, let it suffice to have said these things. The blessed Augustine puts forth such an interpretation upon heaven and earth: « God, says he, made in the beginning heaven and earth, » that is, the angelic or heavenly and the earthly creature. We also can, saving the sense of the ecclesiastical rule, refer heaven and earth allegorically to the person of our first father Adam. For he himself, before he sinned, stood as it were heaven, but after sin he heard from God: « Thou art earth, and into earth shalt thou go (Gen. III). » [Vulg. Gen. 3:19 pulvis es et in pulverem reverteris, "dust thou art, and into dust shalt thou return"] And well indeed can Adam before the perpetrating 546Aof sin be called heaven, because without doubt, as saint Augustine says, had he not run into that wretched guilt, he would have come to the heavenly glory without the taste of death. Adam can further in another manner be named heaven and earth, because he himself had a soul of heavenly nature, and his body drew its origin from the earth. For thus Scripture says: « God made man of the slime of the earth, and breathed into his face the breath of life (Gen. II). » And there is besides another reasonable understanding whereby our first parent ought to be called heaven and earth. For of him Eve was made; as it is written: « God sent a deep sleep upon Adam, and took one of his ribs, and built that rib into a woman (ibid.). » If therefore by heaven we take Adam, and by earth 546Bwe take Eve, our understanding walks by a straight path along the ecclesiastical rule. Let us say otherwise: Not undeservedly can we interpret heaven and earth in Adam, because of his offspring holy Church was to go forth, which in the elect can be called heaven, and in the reprobate whom she contains, earth. Or else Adam may not unfittingly be called heaven and earth for this cause, that it was to come to pass that from his stock, through the lines of the generations, he should draw his origin who by his blood should join together, by making peace, things heavenly and earthly at once; and should restore, out of the sons of the same Adam, though regenerated by the saving font, the loss which that heavenly court had borne in the fall of Sathael and of his companions. But as to what is said, that the earth was void and empty, it must be so understood, that indeed 546CAdam and Eve, after they consented by sinning to the devil rather than to God, remained at once void and empty of the grace of the Holy Spirit and of the remaining virtues wherewith they before shone. With a like sentence also is that to be taken which follows: « Darkness was upon the deep (Gen. I). » The deep, as saint Augustine says, is a certain depth which lacks a bottom; which assuredly, the deeper it is, so much the more, ambiguity removed, is it dark. Do they not seem to thee to be dark enough, who thought they could lie hid from the face of God? For thus after the transgression he himself said for himself and for his wife: « I heard, O Lord, thy voice, and I hid myself (Gen. III). » Darkness therefore was upon the face of the deep, because the obscurity of sin, and the boldness of self-defence, and the wrapping of lying beset 546Dthe hearts of those who strove to deceive with words him to whom Solomon says: « Thou alone knowest the hearts of the sons of men (II Par. II). » But as to that, that the Spirit of God was borne over the waters, it behoves us so to interpret it, that we understand that already from that time the grace of baptism was consecrated by the power of the Holy Spirit, by which baptism the offspring of Adam was to be purified from this transgression. And that also which God said: « Let there be light, and light was made (Gen. I), » can fittingly enough be applied to Adam himself. For he shone forth as it were a light before the other creatures over which he was set, and therefore by participation of the most wise light which lay hid in him he imposed names upon all things. « And God saw the light, that it was good (ibid.) » 547AIt would surely have pleased God if Adam had remained in that same state in which he had been founded by him. But because he himself sinned, there was a great division between that state which he had before the fall, and that in which he remained after the tasting of sin; and this is the division « of the light from the darkness. And he called the light day, and the darkness night (ibid.), » which is to say: Before the transgression Adam stood just, that is, light and day; after the guilt of transgression he remained night and darkness, that is, a sinner. « And there was evening and morning, one day (ibid.). » If by the morning we would understand the soul of Adam, which was of heavenly nature, and by his body the evening, such a solution of this sentence may be had: « Evening and morning were made one day, » 548Athat is, of soul and body one man was made. Or else, if by the morning, which pertains to light, we would interpret that glorious estate in which God created Adam, and if by the evening, which regards the darkness, we interpret the unhappy guilt which Adam ran into, we can say that indeed Adam, whom God founded just, although he made himself a sinner, yet remained the very same, save that he lacked not the blemish of sin. Our intention therefore tends to this: that, by the furnishing of him who made the first day, we may refer that which was done in that first day, by allegory, to the things that were done in the first age of the world.

547Here ends the fourth Tome upon the Song of Songs.

547B319 As the sacred history of the Old Testament, when it was read, intimated to the minds of the hearers with spiritual modulation, Isaac the holy patriarch, son of that most noble and excellent patriarch Abraham, had once, when the day was already drawing on toward evening, gone out to meditate in the field (Gen. XXIV): and it came to pass, while he walked meditating, that he lifted up his eyes and saw Rebecca his bride coming, and ran to meet her, and led her into the tent of Sara his mother, and loved her so greatly that he even tempered, for the greatest part, the grief which had befallen him from the death of that same mother of his. For because Isaac is interpreted laughter or joy, not undeservedly do we spiritually understand by him our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the joy and gladness, the jubilation and exultation, and the unfailing delight 547Cof his saints. But that the Lord Jesus himself is the son of Abraham according to the flesh, Matthew the evangelist attests when he says: « The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham (Matth. I). » But that saint Isaac, the day now drawing on toward evening, had gone out to meditate in the field, signifies that the Lord Jesus Christ, as the end of this world drew near, came into this world for this, that he might fulfil the mystery of his most holy incarnation. For the walking of holy Isaac into the field insinuates to us the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ into this world. Whence also his most dear Bride says to the same Lord Jesus in the Song of Songs: « Come, my beloved, let us abide in the woods, let us go forth into the field (Cant. VII), » although the blessed 547DAmbrose interprets that field as a stronghold. [Vulg. Cant. 7:11 egrediamur in agrum, commoremur in villis, "let us go forth into the field, let us abide in the villages" — and in that order] Moreover, that Isaac brought Rebecca into his mother's tent, and for love of her tempered the grief of his mother's death, signifies that the Lord Jesus Christ joined holy Church to himself by spiritual nuptials and epithalamic Songs. Whom assuredly he so loved with spiritual love, that he even 548Bhanded over the Synagogue, namely his carnal mother, to oblivion. Lastly, Rebecca herself is interpreted patience, whom Isaac brought into his tent, which surely alludes elegantly to the mysteries of holy Church; whom our Lord Jesus Christ, the contest of this world being finished, shall bring in to the eternal mansions of heavenly glory — to the founders of which Church, namely the holy apostles, he himself says: « In your patience you shall possess your souls (Luc. XXI). » Considering therefore in this little book this most blessed and most happy bringing-in, and as though that were already done which is still to come after the day of judgment, the Bride of Christ, exulting with unspeakable joy and incomprehensible jubilation, thus addresses the maidens, saying: The king hath brought me into his storerooms 548C(Cant. I). Truly, who is this king by whom this Bride says she has been brought into the storerooms? He assuredly of whom the prophet David says: « O God, give thy judgment to the king, and thy justice to the king's son (Psal. LXXI). » Which indeed the same king, son of the highest king, makes plainer in the Gospel when he says: « The Father judgeth no man, but hath given all judgment to the Son (Joan. V). » But what are these storerooms, if not those tabernacles or courts of which David the prophet sang: « How lovely are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts, my soul coveteth and desireth to be in the courts of the Lord? » (Psal. LXXXIII.) [Vulg. Ps. 83:3 concupiscit et deficit anima mea in atria Domini, "my soul coveteth and fainteth for the courts of the Lord"] These tabernacles indeed, or courts, the Lord Jesus in the Gospel calls mansions, where he says: « In my Father's house there are many mansions (Joan. XIV). » Holy Church therefore, 548Dthe Bride of Christ, considering spiritually those mansions or tabernacles or courts, and panting after them with the whole desire of her mind, the love of the world set behind her, as though she already possessed in present those things which she doubts not she shall possess when the day of judgment is done, says: The king hath brought me into his storerooms. Truly, says holy Church, the king hath brought me into his storerooms, because « what 549Aeye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it ascended into the heart of man (I Cor. II), » as he had promised me, he has faithfully bestowed. Whence Isaias the prophet says: « The eye hath not seen, O God, besides thee, what things thou hast prepared for them that love thee (Isa. LXIV). » [Vulg. Isa. 64:4 exspectantibus te, "for them that wait for thee"] By the charity therefore of this unspeakable joy, by the affection of incomprehensible jubilation, by the contemplation of the highest and unutterable Trinity, the maidens, that is, the faithful souls, being kindled, say: We will be glad and rejoice in thee. For then, when the sacrament of the resurrection and of the general judgment is completed, when the Son of God shall say to his faithful: « Come, ye blessed of my Father, receive the kingdom which was prepared for you from the origin of the world (Matth. XXV), » [Vulg. Matth. 25:34 possidete paratum vobis regnum a constitutione mundi, "possess the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world"] and when the body which is corrupted shall no longer weigh down the soul, nor the earthly habitation press down 549Bthe sense that thinketh many things, but the soul, seeing God as he is, face to face (I Cor. XIII), by participation of the vision of the highest and incomprehensible Trinity, shall make its flesh wholly spiritual; then, I say, 320 shall these maidens, that is, the faithful souls, more truly say, we will be glad and rejoice in thee. For to us dwelling on earth and faithfully obeying thy precepts thou hast promised great things indeed, but in heaven thou hast rendered greater. Therefore we will be glad and rejoice in thee. Mindful of thy breasts, that is, of thy precepts, by the keeping of which and by the grace of the Holy Spirit we come to the contemplating of the brightness of thy majesty; or else we will be glad and rejoice in thee, mindful of thy breasts above wine, that is, of thy eloquences, which eloquences have been made sweet and honey-flowing 549Cto us above wine, that is, more than the doctrine of the Mosaic law, which is deservedly compared to wine for the austerity of its precepts: which wine is said to kill little ones, because, as Paul says, « The law worketh wrath (that is, death) (Rom. IV). » Therefore, King Christ, because thou hast conferred so many benefits on thy Bride, therefore the sons of that same Bride, that is, the upright love thee. Upright in thought, upright in speech, upright in work, they love thee. They are deservedly called upright, who after confession and penitence return not to sin. We may indeed refer that sentence to the person of Christ, so that Christ says: The king hath brought me into his storerooms, which is to say: My Father, who is the King of kings, commanded me to take flesh within the bowels of the blessed Mary, ever 549Da virgin. Which bowels of the most holy Virgin are deservedly called the storerooms of God the Father, because by him they were predestined from eternity, and by the same prepared and consecrated in the end of the ages for the nativity of his Son. Which nativity the maidens knowing, that is, the angelic and heavenly powers, sing glory to God in the highest and announce peace on earth to men of good will (Luc. II), as if they said to the Father: Deservedly we will be glad and rejoice in thee, because thou dost dispose to repair, through the incarnation of thy Son, our number which had been diminished by the devil's fall. Mindful of thy breasts above wine, as if it said: We remember thy mercy and thy admirable tenderness, whereby thou now temperest the austere sentence 550Aof just damnation, which thou didst once bring upon the first man, when, his iniquity requiring it, thou didst shut him out from the joys of paradise and drive him forth into this valley of tears and of miseries. Considering therefore these benefits mercifully bestowed upon her by thee, the upright love thee, because neither in heaven nor on earth do they find anything dearer or worthier than thee. For thou didst create the whole world out of nothing when it was not, and didst fashion man of the slime of the earth with admirable power, and the same man whom the devil by his fraud seduced and destroyed, thy most kindly tenderness led back to the joys of paradise and saved; and therefore the upright love thee, because they find nothing which they may love better and more justly than thee. Let us also therefore, brethren, bring Christ into our storerooms. Now our storerooms are our body 550Band our soul, into which the Lord promises that he will enter, if, all evils being shut out, he shall find them prepared and clean for him, as he himself says: « Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any man shall open to me the gate, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me (Apoc. III). » But what do we think — what of joy, what of jubilation, what of gladness or of exultation — will the maidens, that is, all the virtues of our soul, then possess, when they shall see Christ present in his storerooms? Then moreover shall the Bridegroom say to these maidens: « Your joy no man shall take from you (Joan. XVI) »

550CThe men who are perfumers, who make up fragrant spices out of divers kinds, and who rather often handle balsams or the other things of that sort that give out aroma: they indeed first enjoy, as it were for the wage of their labour, the wondrous odour of those same spices or of the balsam; then they that come after and draw nearer are steeped in the most pleasing fragrance and enjoy it. Further, this stands most certainly, that the more the aforesaid perfumers break their spices small, or grind them minutely, or pour out the balsams and shift them from vessel to vessel, so much the more beyond doubt do they bring a fresher odour to their own nostrils, and offer a more pleasing one to them that stand at a distance. What then are these spices or precious balsams, if not the 550Dmost sacred eloquences of the divine books? Whence the Bride in the Song of Songs says: « My beloved is gone down to the little bed of spices, that he may gather the lilies (Cant. VI). » What then is the little bed of spices, if not the catholic Church, in which is contained a mighty abundance of the divine books? But the perfumers I judge can be understood as none other, more rightly, than the rulers and preachers of the Church of God, who after the manner of spices grind and divide into small parts, by expounding, the Scriptures divinely inspired, and, as balsams when they are poured from vessel to vessel breathe out a most sweet odour, so these bring forth reasonable and pleasing senses, while they pass from history to allegory, and from allegory to morality. 321 If therefore, as we have said, the spices are the sacred eloquences, and if they give out so much the more odour the more 551Athey shall have been ground, let us see what odour this sentence gives out, or what of fragrance it contains in itself. The king hath brought me into his storerooms. Indeed the storerooms of this king, according to allegory, are all the books generally of the divine law, into which we are then spiritually and mystically brought in by the Lord, when we are instructed and taught by him to understand the hidden and mystical senses. Thus finally were those blessed disciples brought in by the Lord Jesus within these storerooms, of whom it is said in the Gospel: « Then he opened their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures (Luc. XXIV). » A certain secret storeroom indeed, abounding in all divine charisms and spiritual riches, is the Gospel. Whence the Bride cries out exulting in the Song of Songs: « The king hath brought me into the wine 551Bcellar, and hath ordered charity in me (Cant. II). » For the Gospel by teaching declares how charity ought to be had and possessed among Christians: namely that principally, before all creatures, and above all creatures, and before all things, God be loved; then in the second place, that the neighbour be loved with the sincere affection of charity. For this is the most blessed and most holy ordering of pure charity, which every one of the faithful can find in the storeroom of Christ's Gospel. And there are besides other storerooms of this great and most rich king: namely the book of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, the book of Numbers and the book of Deuteronomy, Isaias, Jeremias, Ezechiel, Daniel, and the twelve prophets, and very many other books of the divine law — these are the storerooms of Christ; but what shall I say of the chief and 551Cexcellent one among the prophets, David, who makes clearer than light, in the first part of his book, whose storeroom it is, when he says: « Blessed is the man who hath not gone in the counsel of the ungodly, and hath not stood in the way of sinners, and hath not sat in the chair of pestilence? » (Psal. I.) We do not therefore judge it now to be the time in which we should run through all the books one by one, and expound how each several book is a storeroom of this highest king, since for the accomplishing of that we by no means possess fit senses, and we know that our holy Fathers of old accomplished this more fully. Nevertheless, lest anyone suppose that we wish to lie hid under the silence of a sluggish body, let us enter that storeroom of which we spoke above, and let us bring forth into the open what it contains hidden in itself 551Dor what it gives out for odour, by the bounty of him whose the storeroom is. « Blessed is the man who hath not gone in the counsel of the ungodly, etc. » In the divine page, O searcher of the spiritual law, three things lie subject to thy inquiry, namely history, allegory, and morality, which last always walks about and inseparably cleaves to our condition. Truly in the nature of things these three are, and are not easily found, unless they be sought out rather carefully by a prudent reader. Let therefore the historical understanding of this verse, namely, « Blessed is the man, » be referred to the person of the earthly king David; let the allegory be ascribed to the Lord Jesus Christ; let the morality be assigned to the correcting of our own acts. But how can we refer historically to David this verse, namely, « Blessed is the man, » etc., whom we know to have sinned in thought, in speech and in 552Awork? For it is certain that David sinned by thinking, when, looking incautiously from his couch, he saw Bethsabee the wife of Urias the Hethite washing, and coveted her. But because he in no wise repressed within himself the unlawful thought, he came down as far as the guilt of speech, when through go-betweens he inquired who that woman might be. And who knows not that he fell in work by a wretched lapse, when he committed adultery with the same Bethsabee (II Reg. II), and afterwards, lest the adultery should lie open to all, delivered her husband to be slain by the swords of the sons of Ammon? With what blessedness then shall David be endowed, who is proved to be guilty in thought, in speech and in work? And who will dare to call David a blessed man, who committed adultery so lightly, and to the same adultery, 552Bwhich is worse, joined homicide? But according to the word of the apostle Paul (I Cor. VI) he was washed, he was justified, he was sanctified in the name of our Lord and in the Spirit of our God. He was justified, I say, by confession, when he said to Nathan the prophet: « I have sinned against the Lord, pray for me; » and Nathan the prophet to him: « Fear not, said he, thou shalt by no means die the death, because the Lord hath taken away thy sin from thee (II Reg. XII). Behold how swiftly this man was washed by confession, was justified, was sanctified. Moreover let us hear what the Lord says of him: « I have found, said he, David my servant, the son of Jesse, who doeth all my wills (Act. XIII). » [Vulg. Act. 13:22 inveni David filium Jesse virum secundum cor meum qui faciet omnes voluntates meas, "I have found David the son of Jesse, a man according to my own heart, who shall do all my wills"] And in another place: « I have found David my servant, with my holy oil I have anointed him (Psal. LXXXVIII). » 552CMy hand, says he, shall help him (ibid.) » , and the rest which follows in the same psalm, which the plain wording proves to have been said to the praise of that same David. Who then would dare to condemn him whom God with words of this sort washes, justifies and sanctifies? But surely let us seek whether it may perchance occur to us that somewhere David did not go in the counsel of the ungodly, and did not stand in the way of sinners, and did not sit in the chair of iniquity. For neither does it befit the majesty of God to justify the ungodly, as neither does this, to condemn the just. By no means indeed would God justify or praise the just David, unless some good work were found in him which might please God himself. Known indeed is the history of the book of Kings, which relates that at a certain time Saul, that most impious king, was unjustly persecuting David, 552Dand it fell out on a certain day that the same 322 Saul entered a certain cave for the requirements of nature, and behold, in that same cave David with his companions, fleeing from the face of that same Saul, lay hid. His companions therefore said to him: « Behold the day of which the Lord spoke to thee, saying: I will deliver thy enemy to thee, that thou mayest do to him whatsoever thou wilt. Rise up therefore and kill him. And David broke the words of the men who were with him, and did not permit that they should kill him, but said: The Lord liveth, that unless the Lord shall strike him, or his day shall come that he die, or going down into battle he shall perish, I will not put forth my hand upon the anointed of the Lord (I Reg. XXIV). » Behold how David went not in the counsel of the ungodly. 553AFor although the law said: « Thou shalt love thy friend, and thou shalt hold thy enemy in hatred (Levit. XIX); » yet he, despising the institutes of the ancient law, was already making his passage to the sacraments of the new law. For in the new law it is said: « Love your enemies, do good to them that hate you (Matth. V). » [Vulg. Levit. 19:18 diliges amicum tuum sicut temet ipsum, "thou shalt love thy friend as thyself"; the clause et odio habebis inimicum tuum stands at Matth. 5:43, as the saying of them of old] But after we have shown, God helping, how David went not in the counsel of the ungodly, it remains that, by his aid, we demonstrate in what manner he stood not in the way of sinners. For in the same book of Kings it is likewise found that on another occasion that same most shameful king Saul, at the goading of envy, was persecuting holy David. And it came to pass, while the sun drew toward its setting, and the evening coming on was now willing to set a term to the day, that Saul in the place where he was, his 553Btents and pavilions being spread, was disposing himself to rest. And when quiet slumber held the limbs of all, David, having marked the place in which Saul was sleeping, said to his companions: « Who will go down with me to Saul into the camp? » (I Reg. XXVI.) And there went down with him some of his companions. But when he had come to the place in which Saul was sleeping, one of those who were with him said: « Behold, the Lord hath given thy enemy into thy hand. Now therefore let me go, and I will pierce him with the spear once into the earth, and there will be no need of a second time. And David said: Do him no evil at all, nor stretch out thy hand upon him. For who, putting forth his hand upon the anointed of the Lord, shall be innocent? » (Ibid.) Let the Lord know this, that unless the Lord himself shall strike him, or his day shall come 553Cthat he die, or going down into battle he shall perish, « I will not put forth my hand upon the anointed of the Lord (ibid.). » Behold how David stood not in the way of sinners, because he refused to hear the counsel of those who were persuading him to homicide. Certain arguments therefore having been shown from the works of holy David, whereby we have proved him by manifest authority to have at one time neither gone in the counsel of the ungodly nor stood in the way of sinners, it lies upon us still with watchful mind to show that he sat not in the chair of pestilence. Now after Saul ended this temporal life with the sons of Israel under the lot of battle on Mount Gelboe (I Reg. XXXI), it is written that the house of Juda in Hebron anointed David to itself as king, and set him after the royal manner on the royal chair. 553DBehold, says the history, certain men came and announced to David that the men of Jabes Galaad had honourably buried Saul his enemy, and he sent to them, saying: « Blessed be ye of the Lord, who have done this mercy with Saul your lord. But I also will render you thanks for the work which ye have done in him (II Reg. II). » Moreover in what follows of the book of Kings it is said that David took the bones of Saul and of Jonathas, and buried them very honourably in the land of Benjamin (II Reg. XXI). Truly, with what words could we worthily set forth how David wept when he heard of the death of that same enemy of his Saul, at whose destruction surely thou oughtest to have rejoiced with exulting spirits, as it is written: « David made a lamentation of this sort 554Aover Saul, and over Jonathas his son: Ye daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who furnished ornaments of gold for your attire, and clothed you in delights. O Saul and Jonathas, how lovely and comely were ye in your life! ye were swifter than eagles, and stronger than lions. Ye mountains of Gelboe, let neither dew nor rain come upon you, nor let there be fields of firstfruits in you, because there was cast away the shield of the mighty, the shield of Saul, as though he had not been anointed with oil. The arrow of Jonathas never went back, and the sword of Saul returned not empty. O how are the strong and the noble and the excellent men fallen, and the weapons of war perished! » (II Reg. I.) And this also, that David commanded him to be slain who announced to him, saying: « I have slain Saul on Mount Gelboe, » agrees exceedingly 554Bwith the works of tenderness and mercy. Behold, as we have said, David sat not in the chair of pestilence and of iniquity, who for the death of his enemy not only poured out lamentable wailings, but even stirred up others with most loving words to lament with him. Above therefore we premised that the history of that verse, namely « Blessed is the man, » ought to be referred to David, the allegory to Christ, the morality to each one of us. Nevertheless the allegory of that verse can easily be fitted to the Lord Jesus, since indeed he who did no sin, he assuredly went not in the counsel of the ungodly, and stood not in the way of sinners, and in no wise sat down in the chair of pestilence and of iniquity. Let us consider then with subtle investigation how the morality of this verse 554Cpertains to each one of us, and how in our inward action it besets us on every side. Three kinds indeed of the lapses of human frailty, O thou lover or hearer of the divine word, it behoves thee to consider in this verse, namely « Blessed is the man, » and do ye weigh 323 with diligent regard by what ways our nature lies subject to sin. For as in this verse these three, namely walking, standing, sitting, are denoted, so every sin to which we are liable is perpetrated by us in three manners. But surely what these three manners are we know rather by daily experience, which we cannot speak of without heavy sorrow, than by the discourse of any sentence pointing it out. For in thought, or in speech, or in work, it is hard that the human condition should not slip. For it seems as it were to walk in the counsel of the ungodly 554Dwhen our mind, given over to the vain thoughts of malign spirits, strays hither and thither; and it stands in the way of sinners when it speaks those things which are contrary to God. But it sits in the chair of pestilence when, the fear of God being cast away backward, it works evil.

All the arts of human knowledge, in the midst of the teaching — that is, when they are taught or practised — offer to their hearers certain delightful refuges outside themselves, as for example are the polishers, or the hewers of wood 555A, or those who are busied in the stone-quarries, or goldsmiths or builders, or of any other art whatsoever that is discerned to pertain to human judgment. For all these have within their working certain empty consolations. But while the polishers polish marbles, they talk, they tell tales, they laugh, they make merry; and sometimes even certain things which are proved to pertain nothing at all to that same art. But our art, namely that of spiritual letters, in the learning or in the teaching wills to have the whole man intent upon it. For either a man shall offer his whole self intent upon our art, or he shall by no means come to a clear mastery of the skill of that same art. For who ever, with a halved heart, or with the senses turned away, or with a wandering and unstable mind, was able to be a good clerk 555B? It is needful therefore that not only the things which are of this world, but even himself for the greatest part, if it be lawful to say so, he hand over to oblivion, who longs perfectly to attain those things which in the divine books lie subject to human intention. Earthly pleasures therefore being lulled to sleep, and depraved works despised, which are wont very often to plunge incautious men into the depth of the gulf, let us come with no halved heart, but with a whole mind and sincere affection to the Bridegroom, and let us beseech him with humble words together with his most dear Bride, that he may deign to bring us in, devoted to him, into his storerooms. Above therefore I confess I said that the storerooms of this Bridegroom and king were, allegorically, all the books of the divine law. But now I say likewise that of the same Bridegroom and king the storerooms are, morally, 555Call the virtues that can be found scattered here and there throughout the sacred eloquences. Nevertheless, because we desire to begin a discourse concerning the virtues, it follows that we direct our stylus to the head or beginning of all the virtues. Now the head or beginning from which all the virtues go forth is without doubt discerned to be charity. Whence the blessed Gregory says: « As from one stock of a tree many branches go forth, so from one charity many virtues are begotten, nor has the branch of good work anything of greenness if it has not abided in the root of charity. » Let charity itself therefore be itself the opening of our narration, since it is believed to be the storeroom of this great Bridegroom and king. But with what presumption shall we dare to speak of charity 555D, who do not perfectly love that same charity, as would be fitting, nor possess it; and appear in no wise charitable with your brethren? Nevertheless this presumption leaps forth out of the love of charity, which stirs us to this, that we should willingly dispute of the works of charity. « God, says John, is charity (I Joan. IV). » This virtue could not be compared to a greater thing than that it should be made equal to the omnipotent Creator. For although it is lawful to say, God is obedience, humility, chastity, peace, patience, and so of the other virtues; yet of none is it so specially said, as of charity, God is that or that virtue. God therefore is charity. Deservedly then is God said to be charity, and justly is God declared to have charity, because when he was alone in his glory, 556Ain his divinity, in his majesty, he willed not alone to hold the kingdom of heavenly beatitude, but sought companions to possess with him the happy and immortal joys of everlasting delight, namely angels and men, whom he created to the praise and glory of his name. Of whose inestimable charity still, incomparable tenderness, unspeakable mercy, the blessed Augustine speaks thus, saying: « O inestimable love of charity which thou hast had! that thou mightest redeem a servant, thou didst deliver up a Son. » For he was considering with what loving charity, and with what charitable love, God almighty grieved with man wretchedly fallen, for whose raising up he made his own Son, consubstantial and coeternal with himself and with the Holy Spirit, to put on the servile girding of flesh, and to endure the hangings of death. But the prophet also 556B(Isa. LXIII) saw the Lord Jesus 324 in the spirit of prophecy clothed with the cloak of zeal and treading alone in the winepress, and that of the Gentiles there was not any man with him. But let this lie hid from no one, that what it is to be clothed with the servile girding of flesh, this it is to be wrapped in the cloak of zeal; and what betokens the suffering of the losses of an undeserved slaying, this assuredly signifies to tread alone in the winepress. For greatly did the Lord Jesus Christ love us, who for us perished in the winepress, that is, on the cross, pouring out his blood. Whence also Isaias says: « But he was wounded for our iniquities, he was bruised for our wickednesses, and by his death we are saved (Isa. LIII). » [Vulg. Isa. 53:5 et livore ejus sanati sumus, "and by his bruise we are healed"] Hence indeed John says: « Who hath loved us, says he, and washed [us] with his blood (Apoc. I). » Moreover this 556Cincomparable charity of the Lord Jesus Christ, this inestimable love, this inexplicable compassion, was well indeed of old prefigured in holy David. For the history of the book of Kings relates of him that at a certain time Absalom his son, greedy of his father's kingdom, was cruelly persecuting him, and, unless difficulty had stood in the way, was contriving to bring an undeserved death upon him (II Reg. XVIII). But when, according to God's disposition, that same death was turned back upon him who brought it, and a most dense oak held Absalom hanging between heaven and earth (for neither was he worthy — I will not say that he should look upon heaven as he died, but neither indeed was he such as the earth should worthily bear up; seeing that against all the laws of nature he strove to bring the perils of death 556Dupon a father's sweetness) — David himself, even as a most loving father, hearing of the slaying of his son and of his persecutor, if indeed he can be called a son who stood forth a most abominable persecutor, he himself, I say, David, poured out tears inconsolably. For thus it is written of him: « Now king David, walking with covered head, mourned his son, saying: Absalom my son, my son Absalom, who will grant me that I may die for thee, my son Absalom? » (Ibid.) Behold how David had been brought into the storerooms of charity, who wept with irremediable tears for the death of his persecutor. But someone can say: Thou doest violence to Holy Scripture; whence therefore dost thou know that that mourning which David had over the destruction of his son stood forth as a figure of the passion and death which the Lord Jesus Christ endured for the salvation 557Aof the human race? Hear the apostle Paul (I Cor. X), not me, saying that all things happened to our fathers in figure, and were written for our correction. If therefore David stood forth as a figure, without doubt in the Lord Jesus Christ the truth abided undefiled. Nevertheless let us search out clearly whether David's lamentation agrees with the passion and death of Christ, and this being searched out, there will be left to our objector nothing which he may justly object against us. For in the Gospel the Lord Jesus Christ is read to have wept in two places, and afterwards to have endured death for us: « For seeing the city Jerusalem, he wept over it, saying: If thou also hadst known (Luc. XIX), » — there is understood, the things that are to come upon thee, thou wouldst weep; which, because thou now knowest not, for a little space of time thou art 557Bdissolved in unfitting gladness and rejoicest. In a like manner also the Lord Jesus Christ, as being true man, deigned to weep at the burial of Lazarus (Joan. XI). Of which weeping assuredly saint Augustine says that he wept not the dead man, whom he himself raised, but the death which the human race acquired for itself by sinning. For he was considering in how great glory the human race had been founded by its Creator, and to how great misery it had come by disobeying. But after that twofold weeping, the Lord Jesus went forward to pay the undue debt of death, because he had for this been sent by the Father into the world, that by dying he might redeem the human race. Let us see then how the wailing of David fittingly agrees with the twofold weeping and the single death of our Lord Jesus Christ. « King, says he, David 557Cwalking with covered head (II Reg. XIX). » But what do we judge can be signified by David walking with covered head, if not that the assuming divinity lay hid in the assumed humanity? For the head of Christ, according to the apostle Paul » is God (I Cor. XI). And as it were assuredly David walked with covered head, when God lay hid in the man he had assumed. Does it not seem to thee that the Lord Jesus walked as it were with covered head, when human opinion reckoned him to be either Elias, or Jeremias, or one of the ancient prophets? But Peter the apostle uncovered the head of the Lord Jesus, when he said to him with a truth-speaking voice: « Thou art Christ the Son of the living God (Matth. XVI). » When therefore the Lord Jesus by the power of the divinity 557Dwrought miracles, then David walked with covered head, because God lying hid in the man appeared by manifest tokens. But when, passing through the field of this world, he suffered and did for us only human things, then David, as it were walking with covered head, mourned his son, saying: « Absalom my son, my son Absalom (II Reg. XVIII). » For this cause finally did the Lord Jesus endure the injuries of our nature, that he might save the human race which is designated by Absalom, which he himself created to the praise and glory of his name. Whence Absalom is well interpreted the father's peace, or the devil, because that ancient enemy gloried that our race had laid itself low through disobedience, and because the Lord Jesus Christ, through the flesh which he assumed of the human race, reconciled and 558Arepacicavit that same human race with his Father. But that David, walking and weeping, tearfully doubles the name of his son, saying: « Absalom my son, my son Absalom, » this surely signifies 325 that the Lord Jesus twice poured out tears in the Gospel, and truly underwent death for the salvation of the human race. By the twofold and tearful repetition of that name may be understood the compassion and death of our Saviour, which he bore for the salvation of our soul together with our body; because whatever perished in our first parent, the second parent took up wholly and saved. For by his death he redeemed the human race. Let us be lying, and let us be convicted of falsehood as false interpreters of the divine law, if the history that follows does not indicate this very thing which we say, 558Bwhen it proclaims with manifest voice, saying: « Who will grant me that I may die for thee, my son Absalom? » (Ibid.) If therefore, as we premised above, by David we understand our Lord Jesus Christ, and by Absalom we take the human race, it stands for certain that the death which David desired for the destruction of his son insinuates to us the death which the Lord Jesus endured for the redemption of the human race. I beseech thee, O hearer of this lesson, that thou spare me, and be not indignant against me for this, that I have said that by Absalom, metaphorically, the human race ought to be understood, and by David also, that most loving and charitable king, our Lord Jesus Christ. For this usage is very often found in the divine letters, namely that one person is taken under an 558Callegorical sense for various understandings. Thus finally the blessed Gregory, metaphorically, understands by Saul, that most impious king, our Lord Jesus Christ; but by the mountains of Gelboe, on which the same was slain, the Jewish people. But behold, while we have discussed the charity of David and of Christ figuratively according to the capacity of our sense, we have tarried a little too long in the storerooms of charity. But let us contemplate still more subtly whether any of the ancient fathers dwelt in these storerooms of charity, besides David alone, who mercifully prayed for his persecutors, namely Absalom and Saul. O Moses, thou lodger, tell us what thou didst, and how, set in persecution, thou didst enter the storeroom of charity. For at a certain time the sons of Israel made a golden calf 558Dto be adored, by which crime they provoked to wrath the God of majesty, who had bestowed on them so many benefits. Which misdeed being discovered, Moses, who was the meekest above all men that dwelt on the earth, said to the Lord: « I beseech thee, O Lord, this people hath sinned a very great sin, and they have made to themselves gods of gold; either forgive them this trespass, or if thou dost not, blot me out of thy book which thou hast written. To whom the Lord answered: He that shall have sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book. But go thou, and lead forth this people (Exod. XXXII). » And in what follows it is written that the people wished to stone Moses. And the same Moses said to the Lord: « I beseech thee, O Lord God, forgive the sin of this people according to the multitude 559Aof thy mercy. And the Lord said to Moses: I have forgiven according to thy word (Num. XIV). » [Vulg. Num. 14:19 secundum magnitudinem misericordiae tuae, "according to the greatness of thy mercy"] Behold in what manner he had been brought into the storerooms of charity; behold how holy Moses abounded in the bowels of charity, who with so great affection besought the majesty of God for idolaters and for his persecutors, that he even asked to be blotted out of the book of eternal life, in which he was already held enrolled, if this offence were not remitted them by God. But behold, while I make discourse of the charity of holy Moses, I cannot hand over to oblivion the charity of David. For the second book of the history of Kings relates that once God was exceedingly angry with the people of Israel, over whom David was set: and he sent his angel, and slew of the people of the Jews as many as seventy thousand men. But when 559BDavid had seen the angel of the Lord striking the people, moved with tenderness he said to the Lord: « I am he who sinned: I have done wickedly; these who are sheep, what have they done? let thy hand, I pray, be turned against me, and against the house of my father (II Reg. XXIV). » God therefore, seeing the charity of David which he had, who longed to die for the people committed to him, said to the striking angel: « It is enough now (ibid.). » And the raging plague was restrained from Israel, and the Lord was made favourable again to his land. Moreover Samuel the prophet was of old cast out as it were reprobate by that same people from his principality, and yet that same people entreated that same prophet whom they were driving from his seat, that he would pray the Lord for them. What he said, or what he answered, or what he spoke to his enemies, 559Clet those hear who scarcely, or perhaps never, pray with a sincere heart for their friends. « Far be this sin from me in the Lord, that I should not cease to pray for you, and I will show you the good way by which you ought to walk (I Reg. XII). » [Vulg. I Reg. 12:23 absit a me hoc peccatum in Dominum ut cessem orare pro vobis … et docebo vos viam bonam et rectam, "against the Lord … *that I should cease to pray for you … and I will teach you the good and right way"; Migne prints quo minus cessem, which reverses the clause] Likewise the same prophet is found in the same book to have mourned for Saul, that most impious king, on whose account he himself had also been cast out from his principality. Wherefore the Lord also said to him: « How long dost thou mourn Saul, when I have cast him away? » (I Reg. XVI.) Behold how these three men from that time already then observed that which the Lord was to say: « Love your enemies, do good to them that hate you (Matth. V). » For no man has that greater charity, than that he should pray for his persecutors 559Dand deliver up his own soul unto death for them (Joan. XV). Scarcely at last shall we be able to come forth out of the storerooms of charity, so many and so great works and examples of that same charity meet us. There are still other storerooms also of this great and illustrious Bridegroom and glorious King, namely all the virtues, as we have already premised, which are found in the books of the divine law. Of which 326 we shall here take care to express some by name, lest we seem to have passed them over untouched through negligence. Charity will always be the principal and the first, which humility shall follow, faith, hope, thrift, sobriety, virginity, continence, chastity, mercy, obedience, peace, patience, long-suffering, perseverance, penitence for sins, and pure confession. The keeping of God's commandments out of true love 560A, goodness, concord, kindness, meekness, brotherly affection, spiritual fellowship in God, the bestowing of alms, a reasonable ordering of manners, contempt of self, despising of the world, casting away of worldly glory, renunciation of one's own will, spiritual love, poverty, fastings, watchings, prayers, tears, mortification of the flesh, assiduous meditation in the law of God, our soul's ever untiring contemplation of heavenly things, joy, exultation, jubilation: not in earthly things, but in the Holy Spirit, temperance in prosperity, fortitude among adversaries. Behold, God breathing upon me, I have composed in this catalogue forty-two virtues, in which I have prepared without obstacle the way as far as heaven for those willing to ascend. For by these virtues, if anyone shall have willed step by step 560Bto climb, he will be able without doubt to penetrate as far as the summits of heaven. Lastly, this is to be noted, that the principal virtue in this catalogue is charity itself, and the last is unfailing fortitude itself, since indeed, as Solomon says in the Song of Songs: « Charity, or love, is strong as death (Cant. VIII). » And charity can by no means be kept without spiritual fortitude, nor fortitude without true charity. If therefore we truly believe that both we and our discourses are in the hand of God, then assuredly it is believed to have been done now beside the purpose, seeing that forty-two virtues are found set in the series of this catalogue. For forty mansions and two there were, through which the sons of Israel, going forth out of Egypt, came to the land of promise. 560CFurther, the Lord Jesus Christ, when at the command of God the Father he came down from heaven to the lands for the salvation of the human race, came through forty-two generations as far as the womb of the blessed and perpetual and ever Virgin Mary. O if there were one who were a scribe learned in the kingdom of God! O if there were one who could bring forth new things and old out of the treasure of his heart! O, I say, if there were one so instructed in the divine law that he knew worthily and elegantly to fit and assign single things to single ones — namely how the single virtues which we have already tasted beforehand agree in a reasonable order with the single generations and mansions. And again, how the single generations accord with the single virtues and mansions; and yet again, how in order the single mansions may be fitted to the single virtues and generations. 560DFor truly who is so great and such a one as to dare to say: « I opened my mouth, and drew in the Holy Spirit (Psal. CXVIII), » or to whom God may speak in the secret of his heart, and say: « Open thy mouth, and I will fill it? » (Psal. LXXX.) [Vulg. Ps. 80:11 dilata os tuum, "open wide thy mouth"] He assuredly would be able to explain or unravel the profundity of such great sacraments, which lies hid within the compass of these virtues, of the generations and of the mansions together. But, although that work exceed the poverty of our little wit, yet trusting in him who says to his disciples: « For it is not you that speak, but the Spirit of your Father that speaketh in you (Matth. X), » we shall attempt to taste beforehand only the beginnings of these virtues and generations and mansions, and under that understanding 561Awhich we shall bring forth we shall leave to our hearers the things that remain to be understood. For the first mansion of the sons of Israel is called Ramasse, but in the opening of the generation of Jesus Christ the patriarch Abraham is set; and in the catalogue of the virtues which we have composed charity is put first. Abraham is interpreted father of many nations, Ramasse the stirring of the moth, and God is charity according to John the apostle (I Joan. IV). What therefore do we understand by the many nations of which Abraham is said to be the father, if not a vast multitude of divers virtues? And what ought we to take by the stirring of the moth, if not the insolent infestation of sins and of vices? God therefore, who is charity, himself gives to whom he wills by his grace that he may be able to be a father of many virtues, and himself 561Bdrives out and roots up and removes from him on whom he has mercy all the stirrings and infestations, and the insolences of all vices and sins. Under this sense therefore, and under a better, if God shall have revealed it to anyone, it behoves us to understand the second mansion of the sons of Israel and the second generation of Jesus Christ and the second virtue of our catalogue. For thus it is written: « The sons of Israel set forth from Ramesse to Sochoth, which place is interpreted tabernacles (Exod. XII). » In the series also of the generation of our Lord Jesus Christ, 562AIsaac is discerned to have been the son of Abraham, and in the catalogue mentioned above humility follows next in order after charity: a very wondrous thing, and worthy for ever of admirable and manifold praise! Behold, it is now pleasing enough to consider how the tabernacles agree with the generation and the generation with the virtue. For Isaac, as saint Paul says (Hebr. XI), dwelt in tabernacles with the coheirs of the heavenly kingdom, and in him shone forth assuredly the tokens of an incomparable humility. Who indeed could worthily explain how admirable a humility Isaac had (Gen. XXII), who in no wise contradicted his father when he wished to immolate him to God? Moreover the same Isaac is interpreted laughter or joy, because the voice 327 of exultation and of salvation is in the tabernacles of the just (Psal. CVII). Further, true 562Bsalvation is not gained save in holy humility, since, as Holy Scripture says, « Only the humble in spirit shall be saved (Psal. XXXIII). » [Vulg. Ps. 33:19 humiles spiritu salvabit*, "he will save the humble in spirit"] If therefore anyone knew well how to run through, by expounding, the remaining mansions, generations and virtues, I confess the truth of the matter, the greatest part of time would fail him rather than the abundance of matter for speaking. We shall therefore offer our hearers matter for thinking, because if we expounded all things they themselves would remain numb with weariness and idle.

561Here ends the fifth Tome on the Canticles.

561CThey who seek gold, and linger in the golden mountains, for this reason, when the upper soil has been dug away, search through the lower and deeper parts of the earth, that with labor and sweat they may deserve to come to the long-desired weight of gold. But when by long digging they perhaps find gold, although they behold it covered over with rust drawn across it, and blackened with the filth of the earth, they nevertheless in no way despise it. For they know that if it be cast into the fire, and come between the hands of the hammerers, it will at once lay aside its accidental blackness together with the rust and the filth, and without delay will receive the natural brightness of gold with a flaming splendor. Who then are they who seek gold, if not they who love the wisdom and the spiritual understanding of the Holy Scriptures? And what are the golden mountains, if not 561Dthe holy doctors, that is, the prophets and the apostles? Of whom it is written: « I have lifted up my eyes to the mountains, whence help shall come to me (Psal. CXX). » What then does the mass of gold covered with rust and filth signify, if not the writing of the prophets, which is exceedingly obscure, and wrapped up in divers enigmas and figures? Which it is needful that we should boil down in the fire of the Holy Spirit so long, until, the dross of the killing letter being cast away, we may come to wisdom and to spiritual understanding. As therefore gold, although outwardly discolored with rust and filth, is by no means scorned, 562Cbecause its inward gleam and brightness is considered, so the writing of the prophets, although it be hedged about with the hard rind of the outward letter, is nevertheless in no way to be scorned, because within there lies hidden a precious and spiritual understanding. That therefore what we say may now be more clearly made plain, let us weigh what it is that the Bride, that is, holy Church, says to the maidens: I am black, she says, but comely, O daughters of Jerusalem — black indeed outwardly, but comely inwardly; as if she should say: I am gold darkened by the blackness of an accidental rust, but if fire be applied and I be burned through, I shall appear the brightest gold, that is, refined gold. For thus says the Scripture: « As gold is tried by fire, so tribulation of temptations tries the just (Prov. XVII). » [Vulg. Prov. 17:3 Sicut igne probatur argentum et aurum camino, ita corda probat Dominus, "as silver is tried by fire and gold in the furnace, so the Lord trieth the hearts"] And Jerusalem is interpreted the vision of peace, and he calls the daughters of 562DJerusalem the faithful souls, whom above he had called maidens. Whose study and highest intent it is that they may be able to please God alone, who according to the apostle Paul (Ephes. II) is our peace, and hath made both one. Let holy Church then say: O you, daughters of Jerusalem, that is, O you, faithful souls, who continually desire to see God, who is our peace, be not troubled, do not wonder, that I am black in the passion of my martyrs, but rejoice and be glad, that I am comely in the receiving of the eternal rewards. Black indeed I am, 563Aand I mourn on account of the present persecutions which heretics and evil Christians inflict upon me, but I am comely and I rejoice, knowing that through many tribulations I must enter into the kingdom of God. Now she subjoins a comparison of her blackness and of her comeliness, saying: As the tents of Cedar I am black, and as the skin of Solomon I am comely. [Vulg. Cant. 1:4 sicut pelles Salomonis, plural, "the skins (curtains) of Solomon"; the singular is what the whole exposition below rests upon] Cedar was a son of Ismael the son of Abraham, and Cedar is interpreted darkness. And so it is related of him that he endured the greatest persecution from his neighbors, and, ever shifting his tents, fled from place to place. Which assuredly agrees well with holy Church, which, set amid the darkness of straits and the persecutions of adversaries, says: « We have not here a lasting city, but we seek one to come (Hebr. XIII). » Of these 563Badversaries indeed the same Church complains, saying in the Psalms that « they have hated me without cause (Psal. XXIV; Joan. XV). » But concerning the skin of Solomon I do not remember that I have found anything written, save in this place only, neither in the New nor in the Old Testament. For this reason a great question is raised for us. But it is to be known that not without a mighty mystery is that found in the divine letters which with so great difficulty and obscurity is scarcely understood. But unless we shall have understood the whole from the part, we shall assuredly grasp no spiritual understanding in this place. For it is the custom of Holy Scripture sometimes to take the whole from the part, sometimes the part from the whole. Which assuredly in this place it is necessary to do. For we read in the book of Kings 563C328 that in his own time the most mighty king Solomon, when all Israel had been gathered together, set out with great array to Gabaon, because there was the greater high place (III Reg. III), and the tabernacle which the Lord had commanded to be made by the hand of Moses his servant, when the children of Israel went out of the land of Egypt. Which tabernacle was made after the pattern and likeness of a certain spiritual and heavenly tabernacle, which was shown in the mount to Moses the servant of God. Moreover thus says the Lord to Moses: « See, he says, that thou make the tabernacle according to the form of that tabernacle which thou sawest in the mount (Exod. XXV). » [Vulg. Exod. 25:40 inspice et fac secundum exemplar quod tibi in monte monstratum est, "look and make it according to the pattern that was shown thee in the mount"] Therefore the earthly tabernacle was made after the pattern of the heavenly tabernacle. And that the tabernacle which was set up by Moses was of skins, 563DDavid testifies, who said to Nathan the prophet: « Seest thou that I dwell in a house of cedar, and the ark of God is in the midst of skins (I Par. XVII), » that is, in a tabernacle set up of skins. [Vulg. I Par. 17:1 arca foederis Domini sub pellibus est, "the ark of the covenant of the Lord is under skins"] Whom then did Solomon, who is interpreted the peaceable one, designate other than Christ, of whom Paul says that through his own blood he made peace as to the things that are in heaven and the things that are on earth. And what does it signify that the same Solomon went with all Israel to Gabaon, if not this, that Christ ascended into heaven with those whom he drew out from the lower regions. Whence David says: « Christ ascending on high, led captivity captive (Psal. LXVII). » [Vulg. Psal. 67:19 ascendisti in altum, cepisti captivitatem, "thou hast ascended on high, thou hast taken captivity"; the wording here follows Ephes. 4:8, which does not name Christ] And what is that greater high place, if not the knowledge of the highest and incomprehensible Trinity? For we cannot climb a greater high place than that we should 564Aknow, as it is from eternity, that the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit are one and true God. And of what thing did that tabernacle bear the figure, which was built of the skins of dead animals, if not of the present Church, which was founded and established by our holy Fathers, that is, the prophets and the apostles? Therefore by the skin of Solomon we ought spiritually to take the whole tabernacle which was built of skins, that is, the whole from the part. Otherwise in this sentence we shall find no spiritual sense at all. Let the Bride then say, that is, holy Church: I am black as the tents of Cedar, that is, just as Cedar once suffered persecution from his neighbors, so I daily suffer harassment from heretics and false Christians, 564Bbut I am comely as the skin of Solomon, that is, as the tabernacle of Solomon built of skins, which, on account of the manifold ornaments of gold and of silver which it contained within, shone with an inestimable manner and an incomparable brightness. Do not consider me that I am swarthy, that is, do not despise me on account of the innumerable oppressions which I endure from adversaries, because for those very things I look for heavenly glory from the eternal judge in the day of judgment. Because the sun hath discolored me, for that reason, she says, you ought not to hold me in contempt if amid tribulations I appear swarthy, that is, black, because the sun hath discolored me, that is, because for the sake of Christ, who is the sun of justice, I gladly embrace and suffer these things; knowing most certainly that the humbler and the more abject I shall have been in this world for love of him, 564Cthe more glorious and the more acceptable I shall be in eternal happiness before his majesty. The sons of my mother have fought against me: where a sick man suffers the greater pain, there he is the more often compelled to lay his hand. Which holy Church seems to do in these things, who complains of heretics and false Christians by repeating, saying: The sons of my mother have fought against me. The mother of holy Church is the grace of the Holy Spirit, by which heretics and false Christians were regenerated in holy baptism, who fight against that same Church with words and with deeds and with depraved teachings. Of whom John in his Epistles says: « They went out from us, but they were not of us. For if they were of us, they would surely have remained with us (I Joan. II). » Hence 564DPaul says: « I know that after my departure grievous wolves will enter in among you, who will not spare you (Act. XX). » [Vulg. Act. 20:29 lupi rapaces … non parcentes gregi, "ravening wolves … not sparing the flock"] They have set me keeper in the vineyards. Holy Church here speaks in the person of the holy apostles, of whom it stands clearer than light that they were made planters and keepers of the vineyards, that is, of the Churches gathered from the Gentiles. My vineyard I have not kept, that is, the Synagogue of which we were born we forsook, on account of her unbelief and the blindness of her heart, and we made our passage over to the Gentiles, who received the word of God with joy. Whence Paul says to the Jews: « To you it behooved to speak the word of God first, but because you have thrust it away, and have judged yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold we turn to the Gentiles (Act. XIII). » Therefore the apostles were set as it were keepers in 565Athe vineyards of the Gentiles, when it was said to them: « Go, teach all nations (Matth. XXVIII). But then they did not keep their own vineyard, when the faithless Jews drove them out of the Synagogue, threatening them that they should speak to no one in the name of Jesus (Act. IV).

This sentence, namely I am black, but comely, can reasonably, by a good understanding, be referred to the flesh of Christ hanging upon the cross 329, and as it were saying: O you, daughters of Jerusalem, that is, O you, faithful souls, black indeed I am on account of the pain of the imminent passion and the most rigorous 565Bdeath, but comely and beautiful shall I be a little afterward, on account of the glorious resurrection and the wonderful ascension. Whence Paul says: « We see Jesus, on account of the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor (Hebr. II). » As the tents of Cedar, that is, just as once his neighbors persecuted Cedar, so also the Jews, my friends and my kinsmen, stood against me, and, crying out: « Crucify him (Luc. XXIII; Joan. XIX), » lifted up their voice against me. Which also the prophet Jeremias had prophesied long before in the person of Christ, saying thus: « My inheritance is become to me as a lion in the forest, it hath given out its voice against me (Jer. XII). » Of the lion it is related that he goes round with roaring the forest 565Cin which he abides, and this he does for this reason, that no means of going out may lie open to the animals remaining within the forest, so that afterwards he may the more easily bring death upon whichever animal he will. Which can fittingly and suitably enough be applied to the Jewish people, who, like a lion going round the whole forest of this world, says: « You see that we prevail nothing, behold the whole world goes after him. If we let him alone thus, all will believe in him (Joan. XII). » [Vulg. Joan. 12:19 ecce mundus totus post eum abiit, "behold the whole world is gone after him"; the second sentence stands at Joan. 11:48] Which Jewish people also gave out its voice against Christ, when it cried to Pilate: « If thou release this man, thou art not Caesar's friend (Joan. XIX), » and why it said this it at once subjoined: « We have a law, and according to the law he ought to die. (ibid.). » By Cedar therefore, who is interpreted darkness, [we ought to understand] the darkness of death; but by the skin of Solomon we ought 565Dto understand the glory of the resurrection. Let the flesh of Christ hanging on the cross then say: I am black as the tents of Cedar, but I am comely as the skin of Solomon, that is, they are able to seem to bring upon me the darkness of death, but the glory of the resurrection they are not able to take away. Do not consider me that I am swarthy, because the sun hath discolored me, that is: Do not look upon me in that calamity and misery in which I now hang for you upon the cross, but look upon me as already made bright by the resurrection, and coming to judgment in my majesty. Because the sun hath discolored me, that is, because the sun of justice, who dwells within me, both willed me thus to be discolored through death, and after the resurrection will make me bright with incomparable glory. Whence the same Son says in the Gospel: « Glorify me, Father, with thyself, with the brightness which 566AI had before the world was made (Joan. XVII). » [Vulg. Joan. 17:5 claritate quam habui priusquam mundus esset apud te, "the glory which I had with thee before the world was"; Migne omits apud te] The sons of my mother have fought against me. The mother of Christ, according to the flesh, was the Synagogue, because it too drew its origin through the patriarchs and the kings, and through blessed Mary. But in what manner the Jews, who are the sons of his mother, that is, of the Synagogue, fought against him in the passion, the Psalmist testifies, saying: « The sons of men, their teeth are weapons and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword (Psal. LVI). » They have set me keeper in the vineyards, my vineyard I have not kept. It is manifest that the faithless Jews persecuted Christ both living and dead, so far that with vain solicitude they even kept watch over his sepulchre; and the more they cast him out from themselves through their incrudelitatem, the more they sent him over to the Gentiles, who were to believe 566B. « Now the vineyard of the Lord of hosts, as Isaias says, is the house of Israel (Isa. V). » Therefore the Jews set Christ as keeper in the vineyards of the Gentiles, when, being unwilling to believe in him, they drove him out from their hearts. And then Christ did not keep his own vineyard, when he forsook them, their own faithlessness requiring it. Whence he himself also says in the Gospel: « Behold your house shall be left to you desolate (Luc. XIII). » [Vulg. Luc. 13:35 relinquitur, present, "is left"]

I think therefore that we do no wrong, if we refer this sentence: I am black, but comely, to our nature 566Callegorically. For the spiritual man understands all things spiritually. Let our nature then say — not existing in that state in which it was founded by the highest Creator, but rather in that in which it remained, seduced by the devil: I am black on account of the disobedience and the sin of the first Adam my father, but I shall be comely on account of the obedience and the justification of the second Adam, that is, of Christ my redeemer. Whence Paul says: « As by the disobedience of one man many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one just man many shall be constituted (Rom. V). » [Vulg. Rom. 5:19 per unius oboeditionem iusti constituentur multi, "by the obedience of one, many shall be made just" — there iusti is the predicate of multi, not a genitive with unius] As the tents of Cedar, that is, as Cedar was once made unstable on account of the persecution which he suffered from his neighbors, so from this time on I shall be unstable and shall never remain in the same state, on account of 566Dthe proud hope of empty glory which the devil falsely promised me, when he persuaded me to believe him, saying: « If you eat of the forbidden fruit, your eyes shall be opened, and you shall be as gods (Gen. III). » [Vulg. Gen. 3:5 in quocumque die comederitis ex eo, "in what day soever you shall eat thereof"; the Vulgate has nothing answering to de fructu vetito, "of the forbidden fruit"] As the skin of Solomon. The Catholic Church holds and believes for certain that blessed Mary, who ever remained an inviolate virgin, drew her origin from our corrupted nature and sinful lump. Which blessed Virgin was made not only the skin, but even the tabernacle of Solomon, that is, of the true peaceable one, Christ, when the same Christ deigned for 330 the salvation of the human race to be born of her. Let our nature then say; Through the first Adam, a sinner, I have been made black, but through the second Adam, my redeemer, I shall be 567Acomely. I am black, because I believed the devil rather than God, but I shall be comely, because the Son of God will take flesh of me, and will lead me back to the contemplating of the glory of the divine majesty — to which, from that state in which I had been created, I should have passed over without the pain of death, had I not, seduced by the devil with an empty hope, miserably fallen. Do not consider me that I am swarthy, that is, do not contemplate me such as I was made at the persuasion of the ancient enemy, but rather contemplate me such as I was created by the highest Creator. Because the sun hath discolored me. If by the sun we take temptation, we have a true and most approved sense. For the Lord says in the Gospel concerning the seeds sown upon the rock, that is, concerning unbelieving Christians and perverse heretics, that: 567B« When the sun was risen they withered away (Luc. VIII), » that is, when temptation had arisen they failed in faith and in work. [Vulg. Luc. 8:6 natum aruit, "having sprung up it withered"; sole orto belongs to Matth. 13:6, where the verb is aestuaverunt, "they were scorched"] Finally in the book of Psalms it is found written: « By day the sun shall not burn thee (Psal. CXX), » that is, in prosperity no temptation shall deceive thee. Let our nature then say: because the sun hath discolored me, that is, the temptation brought in by the devil took from me the color of immortality and of innocence, and discolored me with the color of death and with the blackness of sin. The sons of my mother have fought against me. The mother of our nature and of the angelic nature is the most clement grace of God the Creator, by which men and angels were wonderfully created, as is said in Genesis. « In the beginning God created heaven and earth (Gen. I), » that is, in himself, who is the beginning of all creatures, God created the angelic and the earthly 567Cnature. From which angelic nature, namely, those angels, withdrawing through pride, apostatized, who afterwards, made demons, fought against our nature in paradise by the mediation of the serpent. Of whom in this place our same nature rightly complains, saying: The sons of my mother have fought against me, as if she should say: They who together with me were mercifully created by the highest Creator, they themselves cruelly drove me out of paradise, in which I had been set, through the suggestion of the serpent. They have set me keeper in the vineyards; my vineyard I have not kept. We can interpret this sentence according to that word of which it is written in Genesis: « Now the Lord had planted a paradise of pleasure from the beginning, in which he placed the man whom 567Dhe had formed, that he might work and keep it (Gen. II). » For our nature was set as it were a keeper in the vineyards, when God sent the first man into paradise, planted with trees of divers kinds, that namely, by thinking and by speaking what should be pleasing to God, it might work and might keep itself, lest it be deceived by the devil. And our nature was as it were set over the vineyards of paradise, when it heard from the Lord: « Of every tree of paradise eat thou, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil do not eat (ibid.), » yet nevertheless, because our nature by no means kept this obedience but laid itself under the devil through disobedience, therefore it both lost the vineyards of paradise over which it had been set, and kept ill its own self, that is, its own vineyard.

• 568A

Since therefore, God helping, we have set forth the threefold allegory of this sentence, it now remains that, with the same one aiding us, we bring to light the morality which lies hidden in it, and reasonably fit it to our very selves, that is, to our soul. Let our soul also then say — wearied with divers and innumerable temptations, walled about with the thorns and the stings, the calamities and the miseries of its flesh, weighed down with the rottenness and the corruption of its flesh or body: I am black, because « the flesh lusteth against the spirit (Galat. V) » and unceasingly my body drags me to sin (Rom. VI); I am black, she says, because I see another law in my members fighting against the law of my mind and 568Bleading me captive into the law of sin. And now she has subjoined in what manner she is black, namely, as the tents of Cedar. That is, I am sluggish and unstable toward the good, but prone and slippery toward the evil. But of this Cedar the Psalmist complains when he says: « Woe is me! that I have dwelt with the inhabitants of Cedar (Psal. CXL). » [Vulg. Psal. CXIX, 5 habitationibus Cedar, "the dwellings of Cedar"] that is, with those who love darkness, and are unstable in mind and in body. Whence the Lord speaks to Ezechiel, saying: « Son of man, thou dwellest among scorpions (Ezech. II). » But the Lord called his prophet "son of man" for this reason, lest the same prophet should be made proud thereat, and slip into vain glory, because his God spoke to him. Now the scorpion has a bland and mild countenance, but behind it is wont to strike with its tail in an arched wound. Who then are these 568Cscorpions, if not seducing men, and demons, the vices of the flesh, our concupiscences, and pleasures? For all these things, like scorpions, show us a bland and most sweet countenance, when by delighting us they draw us to sin; but afterwards from behind they strike as with a tail, and they kill, because, for that we gave them our assent unto sinning, on the last day of judgment we shall with all these irremediably endure the torments of hell. And this doubtless is for scorpions to strike with the tail and to kill. Those therefore whom Ezechiel calls scorpions, those David in the Psalms, 331 and Solomon in the Canticles calls Cedar. But thou also, whoever thou art that standing in the Church of God dost pray or sing psalms, as often as thou wanderest in mind and in spirit through the whole 568Dworld, and art laid waste within by unclean and foul and shameful thoughts, know thou that thou dwellest with the inhabitants of Cedar. But this also which follows in the same verse is greatly to be feared, namely: « My soul hath long been a sojourner (Psal. CXL), » that is, my soul has taken delight very long with the inhabitants of Cedar, that is, with vices and concupiscences, with pleasures and unclean desires, all which are Cedar, that is, darkness, because they make a man dark. Whence Paul says: « You were once darkness, » that is, sinners; « but now light, » that is, just, in the Lord (Ephes. V). » But I am comely as the skin of Solomon. A little above she gave a likeness, namely the tents of Cedar, to which she likened herself when she says: I am black as 569Athe tents of Cedar. But now she renders a comparison, namely, the skin of Solomon, to which she compared herself through comeliness, saying: But I am comely as the skin of Solomon. By which skin of Solomon we said above that the whole tabernacle is designated, which was built of skins. But it is necessary that we say somewhat of it according to the morality: « The tabernacle was built of skins dyed red, of hyacinth-colored skins, and of haircloths (Exod. XXVI). By the skins dyed red we understand the martyrs, who poured out their blood for God; and by the hyacinth-colored skins we take the confessors, who for the love of the heavenly country labored through the whole course of their life. And by the haircloths we take sinners. If therefore our soul wishes to be the tabernacle of God, let it have in itself the charity 569Bof martyrs, the faith of confessors, the hope of sinners. For it must needs possess, still amid adversity and prosperity, the fortitude and the patience of the martyrs. In good works, the perseverance and the longsuffering of the confessors; the penance and the humble confession of sinners. Moreover it is good for our soul that it be spiritually the ark of the Testament, which was in the tabernacle of God. For the ark was set up four-square of woods that cannot rot, gilded with the best and precious gold, made steady upon two bars by which it was carried (Exod. XXV). If therefore our soul shall have imitated the examples of the saints (who are the woods that cannot rot), and shall have retained by memory the four Gospels (which are signified by the squareness of the ark), and shall have given labor to the spiritual wisdom which is designated by the gold, 569Cand shall have understood spiritually both the Old and the New Testament, which [are set forth] figuratively by the two bars; then our soul will be a spiritual ark in the tabernacle of God. In the tabernacle, finally, there was an urn containing the heavenly manna, and the two tables of the testament, and the rod of Aaron which budded (III Reg. VIII; Hebr. IX). » All these things therefore it behooves us to possess spiritually, that namely we may have the urn containing the heavenly manna, that is, that we may believe Christ to be both true God and true man. For by the urn his humanity, and by the heavenly manna his divinity, is understood. But none the less are the two tables of the Testament necessary to us, that after we shall have perfectly believed concerning Christ that he is true God and true man, we may hold a sound and Catholic mind concerning the Father 569Dand the Holy Spirit, who are designated by the two tables, believing that the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit is one God. When therefore we shall have confessed the holy Trinity, that is, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, to be one God, I think it necessary that we hold a Catholic judgment concerning the humanity of Christ, which he took in blessed Mary, who is shown forth by the rod of Aaron. That namely we may believe without doubt that, as the same rod without the tillage of human help flowered and made fruit, so the blessed Virgin Mary without the touch of man conceived and bore the Son of God of the Holy Spirit. If therefore our soul shall have been the spiritual tabernacle of God, if within itself it shall have spiritually contained the ark, the urn, the tables, the rod of Aaron; then truly will it be able to say: 570AI am comely as the skin of Solomon. Do not consider me that I am swarthy, because the sun hath discolored me. When for the love of God and for the intent of the heavenly country we preach the Gospel to our hearers, if perchance out of that very speaking of ours we incur vain glory, either because we speak well, or because we are gladly heard by the people, then our soul, made swarthy by the contagion of vain glory, ought to say, do not consider me that I am swarthy, that is, do not despise me because I have sinned, since for the love of Christ I have incurred the lapse of empty glory: not that it pleases him, if I have offended in his own work, but because, unless for love of him I were to undertake the office of preaching, I should in no way have come to this stain of sin. Or assuredly, do not consider me that I am swarthy, that is, do not judge me 570Bto be a sinner in my nature, because by the most high God I was created without the stain of sin: and that I now appear a sinner in the present, this I do not possess naturally out of myself, but because this pleased the sun of justice, that is, God, who according to his just will sent me over to this sinful flesh, from the indwelling of which my nature contracted sin, which before had been created without the blemish of sin by the good Creator. For as good wine, when it is put into a corrupt little vessel, is at once corrupted — not that from its own nature it has this, that it should be corrupted, but by the participation of the corrupt vessel into which it has been put it is corrupted — so our soul is not naturally 332 a sinner and corrupt, but by the participation of the corrupt body in which it has been placed, although it is naturally incorrupt, 570Cit is made accidentally corrupt. Truly how this comes to pass no one knows, but because it so pleases God, and pleased him from the beginning, who in his holy disposition from eternity ordained all things blamelessly. And this is what follows, because the sun hath discolored me. The sons of my mother have fought against me. The sons of the mother of our soul may allegorically be called the five senses of the flesh, namely sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch, by which the human flesh is ruled and governed, as matter is sustained and helped by its own sons. Which sons of the flesh, in what manner they war in daily conflict against the soul, we can show by an experience convincing enough. Does not sight fight against the soul when the eye sees a woman so as 570Dto lust after her? Whence Jeremias says: « My eyes have plundered my soul (Thren. III). » [Vulg. Thren. 3:51 oculus meus depraedatus est animam meam, singular, "my eye hath wasted my soul"] For truly the unhappy eyes plunder and assault the wretched soul, when the unlawful things which they see without they announce to her within, and strive to take from her the simple chastity by which our soul is familiarly joined to God. But the battle which our hearing unceasingly wages against the soul, anyone can easily show. For whatever we hear that is sin, and that disagrees from the good of true religion, all this without doubt wounds our soul. What then shall I say of the smell, which sends to the soul all the things that by an outward breath it draws to itself within? And while it infects him with outward delights, it weakens and kills her as with wounds inflicted. But how our mouth 571Aby lying slays the soul, let Solomon, being asked, answer, for thus he himself says: « The mouth that lieth killeth the soul (Sap. I). » Which David assuredly testifies, saying in the book of Psalms: « Thou wilt destroy all that speak a lie (Psal. V). » And the Lord in the Gospel: « Out of thy mouth, he says, thou shalt be justified, and out of thy mouth thou shalt be condemned (Matth. XII). » [Vulg. Matth. 12:37 ex verbis tuis, "by thy words"; the exposition that follows turns on the mouth] Therefore according to the sentence of the Lord, our mouth, by speaking and by eating unlawful things, condemns us. But if we eat the things that are necessary for us, and speak the things that are pleasing to God, then our mouth justifies us. But with what darts touch assaults the soul, the soldiers of Christ know, who daily fight the spiritual battles of the Lord. Whence Holy Scripture also testifies: « As he who touches pitch 571Bis defiled by it, so he who touches his neighbor's wife is made utterly unclean (Eccli. XIII). » [Vulg. Eccli. 13:1 qui communicaverit superbo induet superbiam, "he that hath fellowship with the proud shall put on pride"; the clause on the neighbor's wife stands at Prov. 6:29] Let our soul then say: The sons of my mother have fought against me, that is, the five senses which reign in the flesh assail me with unceasing war, and because, while I am in the flesh, I must use their solace, I am in no way able to pass over even a single hour of the day without their battle. They have set me keeper in the vineyards, the vineyard neam I have not kept. It is manifest, and no one living religiously doubts, that the more diligently each one keeps watch over the guarding of another's actions, the less carefully does he sometimes observe his own actions. And that our actions are called vineyards, blessed Gregory testifies in his writings. 571CLet our soul then say: They have set me keeper in the vineyards, my vineyard I have not kept. Which is to say: While I desire to keep and to amend the actions of my neighbors, I attend less studiously to my own proper actions. For indeed they also who keep the temporal vineyards of this world many times incur the perils of blowing winds and of rushing rains, nor do they fear, for the watching of those same vineyards, to endure the loss of their own body, while they love the temporal rewards which they judge that they can receive from the lords of the vineyards. For so, even so, do the prelates of holy Church. For when through preaching they serve for the gathering in of souls, they sometimes bear less care of their own selves than would be needful, and not seldom for that very preaching of theirs they gladly take on the death of the body from persecutors, 571Dbecause they set before their eyes the eternal rewards which they await from God — which assuredly the apostles and the martyrs did.

Since therefore, after we have with God's aid brought to light the threefold allegory and the simple morality of this sentence, it is fitting that we direct our pen to the person of the blessed Virgin Mary, because we do not doubt that this whole book was put forth by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of Solomon unto her praise and unto the honor of holy Church. Let blessed Mary herself then also say: I am black, but comely, O daughters of Jerusalem, that is: I, a daughter of the heavenly Jerusalem, which is above, our mother 572A(Gal. IV); I am black in the present world, that is, contemptible and despised and worn out with mourning, while I see my son crucified by the envy of the Jews, drenched with his own blood; black, I say, am I by reason of present sadness, because the pain of my son's anguish reaches even to the pain of my heart. Whence Simeon also said to blessed Mary: « And thy own soul a sword shall pierce (Luc. II); » as if he should say: The pain of the passion and of the death of Christ thy Son shall reach and shall wound 333 the inmost recesses of thy heart; and so thou shalt prove thyself to be his true mother, when with the inmost affection of thy heart thou shalt suffer together with him dying upon the cross. Let blessed Mary then say: I am black by reason of grief and sadness, because I see my son dying upon the cross; but I am comely, that is, I rejoice and exult, because 572BI behold him already rising again from death. As the tents of Cedar I am black, but as the skin of Solomon I am comely. By the tents, which by carrying are shifted from place to place, is understood the transitory and changeable sadness of the present life; but by the skin, that is, by the tabernacle of Solomon, is designated the heavenly glory which God inhabits. Let blessed Mary then say: I indeed am now afflicted with a transitory and temporal sadness for the death of my son, but a little afterward I shall rejoice with him rising again, and ascending to the heavens, and reigning in the heavenly glory. Do not consider me that I am swarthy, because the sun hath discolored me, that is, do not hold me in contempt, nor despise me, because you discern me afflicted in the present tribulation, since indeed, O you Jews, it is on account of my son, who is the sun of justice, 572Cthat I am troubled and afflicted — whom you have slain. Or assuredly, do not contemplate me blackened with calamity and misery for the death of my son, but consider me as already placed at his right hand, and reigning with him in eternal brightness. The sons of my mother have fought against me. But spiritually the sons of the mother of the blessed and perpetual Virgin Mary were the wicked Jews, who stood forth as the sons of the Synagogue, and without mercy fought against her, when they slew her son upon the cross. For from the pain and the passion which the Son endured on the cross she was in no way exempt. Moreover it is to be believed that the anguish of the death of Christ dying on the cross reached even to the inward parts of his most loving Mother, nor could she look upon him hanging on the cross 572Dsave with great pain, whom she knew both to be true God, and to have truly taken flesh of her own flesh. They have set me keeper in the vineyards, my vineyard I have not kept. Rejoice and praise, O habitation of Sion (Isa. XII), » that is, the Church gathered from the Gentiles, thou who art kept and governed by so great a keeper. Be glad, I say, because the Queen of the heavens and the Lady of the angels has been set as thy keeper. For thou art the spiritual vineyard of the Lord Sabaoth, that is, of hosts: over thee is set as keeper the empress of the world, who has been exalted above the choirs of the angels. Of whom it is deservedly said that she did not keep her own vineyard, and that on account of the unbelief and the pride of the Jews she forsook the Synagogue. Which assuredly she seemed to have been bound to keep with a carnal affection, and to cherish with the help of her prayers, because she is known 573Ato have drawn her carnal origin from it. Nevertheless, since that same Synagogue, that is, the faithless Jews, spurned her as though she were their sister, and would not honor her, by the just judgment of God, both in this world and in the day of judgment, they shall lack her intercession and her help. « Thou therefore, Jerusalem, praise the Lord, and praise thy God, O Sion (Psal. CXLVII), » that is, O Church of the Gentiles, thou who art therefore spiritually called Jerusalem and Sion, because thou art proved to cleave by faith and by work to God, who is the highest peace; and standing upon the watchtower, that is, upon the height of the spiritual life, thou beholdest thine enemies afar off. Praise, I say, O Church, the God 574Awho has given thee so great an advocate, namely his own glorious mother, whom the Jews for this reason despise, because they say that she was their sister according to the flesh. Let us therefore, the faithlessness and the impiety of the Jews having been driven from our hearts, honor and magnify with due praise the Mother of our Redeemer. Knowing this for certain, that the honor and the praise, and the glory, and the magnificence which we show to his mother on earth will make him well-disposed toward us in the heavens also, and, coming to judgment in his majesty with angels and archangels, placable.

573Here ends the sixth Tome.

573BAmong the twelve precious stones, whoever desires to find the topaz, more precious than the other stones, must needs know by nature the sizes and the colors of all the stones, lest perchance, led by error, he take the one for the other without distinction. For among the twelve there are two stones in some part like the topaz, namely the chrysolite and the chrysoprase, which seem to be of a golden color, as the topaz is. Yet in this the topaz differs from the other stones, that it is rarer in the finding, and, as is said, shines back with every color. That same stone, moreover, is found in Ethiopia and in the region of the Thebaid, whence also in the same province 334 an island is reported to be, which is called Topazion, where that same stone, the topaz, is found. And that the topaz comes from Ethiopia, the Lord, speaking to blessed Job, makes plain. 573CFor when the Lord was speaking to that same Job concerning wisdom: « The topaz of Ethiopia, he says, shall not be made equal to it (Job XXVI). » Who then are the twelve precious stones, if not the twelve apostles founded upon the foundation which is Christ? And what other does the topaz signify, rarer and more precious than the other stones, if not our Lord Jesus Christ, who is « beautiful in form above the sons of men (Psal. XLIV), » and is humbler than all men? Hence also he himself is reported in the Gospel to have said to his disciples: « Learn of me, for I am meek and humble of heart (Matth. XI). » Whence it is well said that the topaz shines back with every color, because « in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead (Coloss. II), » [Vulg. in ipso inhabitat omnis plenitudo divinitatis corporaliter, adding "bodily"] and he himself is adorned 573Dwith the adornment of every spiritual virtue, because according to John, « We have seen him as the only-begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth (Joan. I). » [Vulg. et vidimus gloriam ejus, gloriam quasi unigeniti a Patre, "and we saw his glory, the glory as of the only-begotten of the Father"] Moreover, that the same stone, the topaz, has given from itself its name to the island in which it is found — namely, that from the topaz the island is called Topazion — is believed to have come about by no means without a mighty mystery. For as by the topaz we understand Christ, so also by this island we understand holy Church. And just as this 574Bisland obtained its name from the topaz stone, so as to be called Topazion from it, so also holy Church is named Christian from Christ the corner stone, and all the faithful Christians take delight in being marked with the name of Christ. Assuredly, in that we have compared holy Church to an island, we have spoken according to Isaiah the prophet, who by the spirit of prophecy calls all the Churches islands, saying: « Hear, ye islands, and hearken, ye peoples from afar (Isa. XLIX). » Rightly therefore are the Churches of the gentiles compared to islands, because as islands are lashed by the blasts of the winds and are often shaken by the tumults of the rushing waves, so the Churches spread abroad through the various parts of the world are pressed down by great persecutions and are driven about by innumerable temptations. But this also, that the topaz, according to the sentence 574Cof the Lord speaking, is said to be found in Ethiopia, and that the same topaz is by no means made equal to wisdom, may fitly enough be fitted to the Lord Jesus. For by wisdom Christ's divinity, and by the topaz his humanity, is worthily understood: which topaz is taken up out of the Ethiopian land, because his humanity is assumed out of our sinful and darkened nature; and we can in no wise compare his humanity to his divinity, because he is equal to the Father according to divinity, but less than the Father according to humanity. This, lastly, the same Son makes plain in the Gospel, saying: « I and the Father are one (Joan. X), » which pertains to his divinity; and in another place: « The Father is greater than I (Joan. XIV), » 574Dwhich pertains to his humanity. Whence also David the prophet bears witness in the Psalms: « Thou hast lessened him a little less than the angels (Psal. VIII). » By a very little less than the angels was the Son of God lessened, because, whereas he was God immortal and invisible, for us he was made man, mortal and visible. And since for the salvation of the human race, at the bidding of his Father, he so far humbled himself, therefore he received from that same Father of his the name which is above every name, that at his name 575Aevery knee should bow, and that by every creature of heaven and of earth (Philip. II) he should be adored as one God with the Father and the Holy Spirit. And this is what follows in that verse: « With glory and honor thou hast crowned him, O Lord, and hast set him over the works of thy hands (Psal. VIII). » [Vulg. has no Domine in Psal. VIII, 6]

Therefore, after this little distinction which we have made, let us now return to that from which we have strayed rather far, and with the intent ear of the heart let us hear what it is that the Bride says to the Bridegroom, the Church to Christ: Show me, thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou liest down at midday, etc. As if she should say: Thou art the topaz, thou art the precious stone; thee I seek, thee I desire, thee above all things I love. Show me thine own self, because among so many precious stones I cannot find thee; and this is what 575Bfollows: Lest perchance I begin to wander through the flocks of thy companions, [Vulg. and the lemma above, ne vagari incipiam post greges sodalium tuorum, "lest I begin to wander after the flocks"] seeking thee thus, as once those men wandered and erred of whom in the Gospel the Lord was saying: « Whom do men say the Son of man to be? The disciples answered: Some Elias, some Jeremias, or one of the prophets (Matth. XVI). » [Vulg. At illi dixerunt: Alii Joannem Baptistam, alii autem Eliam, alii vero Jeremiam, naming John the Baptist first] All these then were beginning to wander after the flock of the companions, that is, they were erring among the precious stones, seeking the topaz, and they wished to take for the topaz the chrysolite or the chrysoprase, which in some part are like it, because they are, as it is, of a golden color. For they had heard that the prophets had wrought miracles as Christ did, which is to be of a golden color as the topaz is. But Peter, the Holy Spirit revealing it, the other stones 575Cbeing left aside, acknowledged the true topaz when he said: « Thou art Christ the Son of the living God (ibid.). » As if he should say: The prophets indeed stood forth among men of great authority in their time, that is, like precious stones they shone with the glory of miracles; but nevertheless, in the manner in which thou art the Son of God, they in no wise were. Let us hear then, the tumult of worldly affairs put away, the prayer by which holy Church beseeches Christ that he would deign to manifest himself to her by sure tokens, lest perchance she should adore and worship some one of the saints (which God forbid!) in his stead, and, seduced by the error of her own simplicity, should fall into idolatry. Let us consider lastly what Christ answers to holy Church, and how 335 he removes the worship of the divinity alone from all the saints, and attributes it to God alone, to whom by right it is owed. For the saints 575Dwe ought to honor, not to adore. But God alone is to be adored and to be honored; the saints indeed, for love of him, are only to be honored, not to be adored. Let Christ therefore say to holy Church: Thou beseechest me that, although with all ambiguity removed I should assure thee where — that is, in what place — I feed or lie down, and I will answer thee that at midday I am fed and lie down, that is, in my Father I rest and abide, in whom I have abode equal to him in all things from eternity. And that the Son abides in the Father and the Father in the Son ineffably from eternity, every authority of the New as well as of the Old Testament proclaims with concordant voice. Whence is that which the Lord speaks to the Father concerning his disciples: « Father, I will that as thou art in me, and I in thee, so they also may be one in 576Aus (Joan. XVII). » [Vulg. Joan. XVII, 21, ut omnes unum sint, sicut tu, Pater, in me, et ego in te, ut et ipsi in nobis unum sint, without volo] And in another place the Lord says to Philip: « Philip, he that seeth me seeth my Father also; thou believest not that I am in the Father and the Father is in me (Joan. XIV). » [Vulg. Joan. XIV, 9–10, videt et Patrem (without meum), and Non creditis quia ego in Patre, et Pater in me est? — plural, and a question] Otherwise believe for the very works' sake, since therefore we have sufficiently shown by the authority of the Holy Scriptures how the Son abides in the Father, that is, how Christ lies down and feeds at midday: it now remains that it be shown by us where in the divine oracles God the Father is called midday, because this is rarely, nay most rarely, found, and the more rarely, by so much the more preciously. God almighty, « the Father of mercies, and the God of all consolation, who comforteth us in all our tribulation (II Cor. I), » to whom the evils displease which we do, and to whom the goods please which we perform, himself speaks in Isaiah the prophet, 576Bsaying: « I will rest in my place, and I will consider as the midday light (Isa. XVIII). » [Vulg. Isa. XVIII, 4, Quiescam, et considerabo in loco meo, sicut meridiana lux clara est] What then is it that he says, In my place I will rest? When did he himself labor, that he should now seek rest? And why does he compare himself to the midday light rather than to the breeze or to another hour of the day? And what is it that he says, I will consider, since to consider belongs to him who either knows not a thing or understands it not? For he himself knows and understands all things before they come to be. What then is the rest of God, if not peace in the heart of a faithful and religious Christian? For thus it is written: « In peace in the selfsame I will sleep and I will rest (Psal. IV). » And in Isaiah we find the Lord saying: « This is my rest, refresh thou the fallen (Isa. XXVIII). » [Vulg. Isa. XXVIII, 12, reficite lassum, "refresh ye the weary" — plural imperative, and lassum "weary" for lapsum "fallen"] Great rest therefore do we give to our God, when we exhort the fallen sinner to be turned from his 576Csin. And elsewhere Scripture says: « Upon whom shall I rest, if not upon the humble and the quiet, and him that trembleth at my words? » (Isa. LXVI.) [Vulg. Isa. LXVI, 2, ad quem autem respiciam, nisi ad pauperculum et contritum spiritu, et trementem sermones meos, "to whom shall I have regard, but to the poor little one and contrite of spirit"] And what is the place of God, if not peace and justice, piety and mercy, and obedience the mother of all virtues? Hence David the prophet says: « In peace is his place made, and his habitation in Sion (Psal. LXXV). » For Sion is interpreted specula. Now a watchtower is a lofty thing, upon which, if a man be set, he will be able to look very far away from himself. By Sion therefore, which is interpreted specula, is understood obedience, the mother of all virtues. In which, if any man deserve to persevere unto the last day of his life, without doubt he will be able to come even to the contemplating 576Dof the brightness of the divine majesty. For thus Holy Scripture speaks concerning obedience: « Through obedience one comes even to the knowledge of the hidden things of God. » And what is it that God the Father considers, if not this, that he himself, according to Job the prophet (cap. XXXI), numbers all our steps, that is, our works, so that, namely, after death he may render to each one of us according to what he has done. For thus says Paul the apostle: « We must all be made manifest before the tribunal of Christ, that every one may receive according as he hath done, whether it be good or evil (II Cor. V), » [Vulg. II Cor. V, 10, ut referat unusquisque propria corporis, prout gessit, "that every one may render the proper things of the body"] Hence also blessed Augustine says: "As we now stand in the Church, and behold one another present, so on the day of judgment we are to stand before the tribunal of God. For this soul which we now 577Ahave, then we shall have, and in this very body wherewith we are now clothed we are to be raised up. For we were not made like horses and oxen, that we should perish by eternal death, but after we have lived here, we shall be judged elsewhere, that either for good works we may obtain eternal rewards, or for our sins we may obtain perpetual punishments." Whence also the Prophet says: « God hath spoken once (Psal. LXI), » that is, from eternity he unchangeably established and predestined it. What? « These two things which I have heard (ibid.). » What are they? All « the power of God (ibid.) » is the almighty Father's. Behold, thou hast the one. And to thee, O Lord Jesus Christ, mercy. Behold, thou hast the other. For thou wilt render in the day of judgment to every man according to his works (Apoc. XXII). And that judgment pertains to the Son, and not to the Father, 577Bhear him saying in the Gospel: « The Father judgeth not any man, but hath given all judgment to the Son (Joan. V). » God the almighty Father therefore considers in his place, as the midday light, all the things which we do in this world, that through his Son he may render to us in the day of judgment according to what we have deserved. Whence it is written: « God most high is a patient renderer (Eccle. V). » And rightly is God called Most High, because no thing is compared to his loftiness. And Holy Scripture calls God a patient renderer for this reason, that he who patiently awaits sinners, that they may be converted, at length the more harshly condemns those not converted. But now let us behold why God almighty compared himself to the midday brightness, and why 577Che who is the Creator of all creatures made himself equal to his own creature, that is, to the brightness of the sun. For neither among all creatures could he find, so far as concerns us, any creature brighter than the sun. As therefore the sun, above all the elements and luminaries 336 of this world, stands eminent and shines back by reason of its dignity and its brightness, so God almighty appears more worthy and more eminent than all the things which he created unto the praise and glory of his name. And as the sun, in the burning midday season, with the rays of its wondrous brightness poured out everywhere, illumines the whole world, so every creature, his omnipotence and mercy being considered, trembles before God almighty and adores him. Of which mercy the Psalmist says: « The earth is full of the mercy of the Lord (Psal. XXXII); » and again: 577D« The mercies of the Lord I will sing for ever (Psal. LXXXVIII). » Truly the earth is full of the Lord's mercy, because every creature which lives in it has received this — that it may subsist — not from its own merit, but from the mercy of God. And well does the same Psalmist say that he will sing the mercies of the Lord for ever, because both this, that we work well here, and that after death we are brought into the joys of paradise, all this proceeds from the mercy of God, who founded us when we were not, and by his own tenderness saved us when we had been deceived and lost by the devil's persuasion. Who also, according to Paul the apostle (I Cor. II), wills that no man perish, but wills that all come to the acknowledgment of himself. But if this stands firm, that God wills no man to perish, but 578Awills all to attain to the knowledge of his divinity, why do they perish who perish? Assuredly they perish for this, that they scorn to obey the commandments of God. Behold, by God's bounty we have shown, as much as we could, from the words of the Gospel, that the Son abides from eternity in the Father. And from the oracles of Isaiah the prophet we have brought forth a sentence in which God the Father calls himself, by comparison, the midday light.

Therefore it stands for certain, and no man doubts thereof, that if the Father is the midday, and if the Son abides in the Father, without doubt he abides in the midday. Let Christ therefore answer — it is just — to holy Church, and say: Thou seekest of me that I show thee where I feed and lie down, and I will answer thee that at midday I feed 578Band lie down, that is, in my Father, who is the true midday, I abide as I have abode from eternity.

He who watereth the eternal mountains from his upper places, who satisfieth and maketh drunk the earth lying beneath from the fruit of his works (Psal. X), he himself is able to give us the spirit of spiritual wisdom, filled with which we may be strong to understand those hidden mysteries in the Scriptures of the divine law which we desire. For as once Moses, that excellent prophet (Exod. XIX), first ascended the mountain, and afterwards had familiar converse with the Lord concerning secret things, so it is needful that holy Church do now. For she climbs as it were a great and 578Clofty mountain when, despising all transitory things and transcending her very self, she came to the colloquy of her Bridegroom, that is, of the Son of God, and sought of him, saying: Show me, thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou liest down, etc. The highest mountain therefore being ascended — that is, after she has fully enjoyed the most sweet address of the Son of God the Father — it is needful that she come humbly to God the Father himself, and seek of him with suppliant devotion where he feeds, where he lies down. Let us return therefore to the beginning of our discourse, and let us subtly inquire what the eternal mountains are, or what the bedewings from above are, or what is the earth lying beneath, or the satiety and drunkenness of the fruits of God. Those, I judge, ought to be understood as the eternal mountains of which the Psalmist says to the Lord: 578D« Thou enlightening wondrously from the eternal mountains (Psal. LXXV). » The eternal mountains therefore are the patriarchs and the prophets and the apostles, by whom we have been wondrously enlightened, because through the examples of the patriarchs, through the utterances of the prophets, through the doctrine of the apostles we came to know the faith of the Christian religion — we who before, removed far from the knowledge of God, were sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death; whence Isaiah the prophet says: « The people of the gentiles that walked in darkness hath seen a great light; to them that dwelt in the region of the shadow of death, a light is risen (Isai. IX). » [Vulg. Isa. IX, 2, Populus qui ambulabat in tenebris, without gentium] Truly a great and wondrous light has risen upon the peoples of the gentiles, when the faith of Christ was planted and rooted in their hearts through the preaching of the apostles, and as they began to have Christ as an indweller within them, who before were receiving into the 579Alodging of the heart the devil, that most wicked seducer and most cruel slayer of their own souls. Whence also Paul says: « That Christ dwell by faith in our hearts (Ephes. III). » [Vulg. Ephes. III, 17, in cordibus vestris, "in your hearts"] And lastly blessed Augustine: « Faith, he says, in thy heart, Christ is in thy heart. » It stands therefore clearer than light that, unless the light of faith shine back in our hearts, we shall sit in the darkness of unbelief, and shall in no wise have Christ as an indweller. Of these mountains the Psalmist says: « The high mountains for the harts, the rock a refuge for the hedgehogs (Psal. CIII). » That the rock signifies Christ, Paul the apostle teaches, saying: « And the rock was Christ (I Cor. X). » And the high mountains are those same who above 337 were called the holy mountains, namely the prophets and 579Bapostles. The custom of harts is said to be such, that they flee to the mountains when they are put to flight by hunters. It is plain to all that hedgehogs are full of prickles and thorns. By these two animals are designated two kinds of sinful men, which are contained in the bosom of holy Church. One kind is that which does penance and weeps for its sins, and, distrusting its own acts, hopes to come to the mercy of God through the suffrages and prayers of the saints. Which kind of men is rightly compared to the harts, which flee to the mountains that they may be delivered from death. But the other kind of men is that which lies under hidden and public sins, and the more, despairing, it subjects itself to divers crimes, by so much the further does it withdraw from God; and while, the fear of God being cast off, it dreads not to sin before 579Cmen, it shows itself to be, after the manner of the hedgehog as it were, full of thorns and prickles. Yet sometimes this kind of men is pricked with compunction in the article of death, and, the mass of its sins being considered, is greatly tormented in its inner man; and while it doubts not that it is going to the pains of eternal torment, touched by a divine inbreathing it hastens to return to Christ, who is the true rock — who, opening to mortals the bosom of clemency and the fountain of tenderness and mercy, cries through his prophet: « I will not the death of the sinner, but that he be converted and live (Ezech. XVIII). » [Vulg. Ezech. XXXIII, 11 nolo mortem impii, "the death of the wicked"; Ezech. XVIII, 23, which Migne cites, reads numquid voluntatis meae est mors impii] The high mountains therefore are a refuge for the harts, and the rock is a refuge for the hedgehogs, because as penitent sinners who work well are saved through suffrages 579Dand prayers, so the wretched, the despairing, and those hedged about with the thorns of their own sins are received by Christ, if only at the last hour of their life they be turned to him. For thus Holy Scripture says: « In whatsoever hour the sinner shall have groaned, he shall be saved (ibid.). » [Vulg. Ezech. has no such sentence; cf. Ezech. XXXIII, 12, impietas impii non nocebit ei, in quacumque die conversus fuerit ab impietate sua] Behold, God helping, we have shown as much as we could what the eternal mountains are; now it remains that we demonstrate what the waterings from above are. For Moses says: « Let my doctrine gather as the rain, and let my speech flow as the dew (Deut. XXXII). Isaiah also says to the Lord: « For thy dew is the dew of light (Isa. XXVI). » It is manifest therefore that the Holy Scriptures are called the waterings from above, 580Aby which the prophets and apostles were watered, and as it were made fruitful by a heavenly mouth. Of this watering Paul the apostle speaks, saying: « The earth, drinking in the rain that cometh from above, and bringing forth what is seasonable, receiveth blessing from those by whom it is tilled (Heb. VI). » [Vulg. Heb. VI, 7, Terra enim saepe venientem super se bibens imbrem, et generans herbam opportunam illis a quibus colitur, accipit benedictionem a Deo] Of this heavenly bedewing again David speaks, saying: « The stream of the river maketh the city of God joyful (Psal. XLV). » And the city of God is the body or the soul of a just man, which is then more fully made joyful, when it is delightfully bedewed by the streams of the divine utterances. Hence again David says: « They shall be inebriated with the plenty of thy house, and thou shalt give them to drink of the torrent of thy pleasure (Psal. XXXV). » For the house of God is holy Church, the plenty of that same house is Holy Scripture, by which the faithful soul is soberly and religiously made drunk, 580Bwhen, lulled by a spiritual excess, it forgets all the things that are of this world, and is joined to God alone by purity of mind. And the torrent of God's pleasure is the renunciation of this world, because as a torrent overwhelms and hurls down all things set before it, so he who perfectly renounces the world despises things prosperous and adverse, gladly crucifies his flesh with its vices and concupiscences; there is nothing that can hold back the purpose of his mind, until he may come to him whom he loves above all things and above his very self. Since therefore it stands firm that the renunciation of this world is a great pleasure and delight of God, it is manifest that they who renounce neither their own selves nor the desires or concupiscences of the world prepare in their hearts no acceptable delight at all for God. 580CLet the impious therefore go and abound in the riches of this world, and let them know beyond doubt that the more they serve this world and their own flesh by living wickedly, by so much the further do they withdraw from God, and join themselves to the devil, that cruel lord. For thus says John the apostle: « Little children, love not the world, nor the things that are in the world; for if any man shall have loved the world, the charity of the Father is not in him (I Joan. II). » [Vulg. I Joan. II, 15, Nolite diligere mundum, neque ea quae in mundo sunt. Si quis diligit mundum… — without Filioli, and with the present diligit] From which words it clearly appears that the love of this world removes the charity of God from human hearts; and since God is said to be charity, charity being removed from our heart, without doubt God also is removed.

Therefore, the eternal mountains being shown, the waterings from above 580Dbeing made plain, our mind, breathed upon by the dew of the Holy Spirit, will now endeavor to elucidate what that happy and blessed earth is which is satisfied from the fruit of God's works. Assuredly, being about to speak of earth, let us not withdraw far from ourselves, because we ourselves are earth. For thus the Lord says to Adam: « Earth thou art, and into earth thou shalt go (Gen. III). » [Vulg. Gen. III, 19, pulvis es, et in pulverem reverteris, "dust thou art, and into dust thou shalt return"] Let us beware lastly lest perchance — which God forbid! — we be that earth which was granted by the Lord to the serpent for food. For the book of Genesis (ibid.) says that God struck the devil in the serpent with this curse, namely that he should eat earth all the days of his life, for that he deceived by his guile the man who had been created by God himself of an upright 581Aand simple nature. Which Scripture also attests, saying: "God made man simple and upright (Eccle. VII)"; simple, that he should never do evil, and upright, that he should never withdraw from God himself. [Vulg. Eccle. VII, 30, quod fecerit Deus hominem rectum, without simplicem] But because our first parent, led on by an empty hope, thought that he could obey both God and the devil, he incurred duplicity in place of simplicity; and because the rectitude of mind which he had received from God, and after which he ought to have pleased him alone, 338 he twisted — being softened by the blandishments of the woman — toward the knowledge of evil, it was brought about according to God's dispensation that he lost the state of eternal rectitude, and since, when he could stand, he would not stand, now indeed, when he would stand, he cannot stand. But now let us return to the earth of which we had begun to speak a little before. The earth which was given 581Bto the devil for food was the Jews, who desired to kill the Lord Jesus. To whom the Lord himself also says: « You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you will to accomplish. He was a murderer from the beginning, in the truth he stood not (Joan. VIII); » as if he should say: You are the earth of the devil, therefore you desire to be satisfied from the fruit of his works; and because he is proved to be a murderer, and in no wise to have stood in the truth, you, following your father, will to kill me, and in me, who am the truth, you will neither to stand nor to believe. Let us then be that earth which, bearing fruit, has received blessing from the Lord, as David says: « The Lord will give kindness, and our earth shall yield her fruit (Psal. LXXXIV). » The Lord therefore gives kindness to our earth when he breathes into our 581Cheart the sweetness of his love, that for him we may delightfully bear things hard and harsh, and may utterly cast away from us those vices of human flesh which dissolve the soul into death. The Lord gives us, I say, his kindness when he makes known to our minds the knowledge of his own self; by which knowledge our minds, made drunk as it were with a spiritual draught, count the joys of this world as nothing, because, the deceitful glory of the world being despised, they strive to come to him whose knowledge is eternal life. Whence the same Lord says in the Gospel. « This is eternal life, that they may know thee, and him whom thou hast sent, thy Son, to be the one and true God (Joan. XVII). » [Vulg. Joan. XVII, 3, Haec est autem vita aeterna: ut cognoscant te solum Deum verum, et quem misisti Jesum Christum] And our earth yields her fruit when our mind, caught up in supernal contemplation, 581Dsighs after God, and, forgetting its own frailty, desires to be made one spirit with him whom, with the sincere love of charity, it loves above all creatures as is worthy. Our earth, I say, will then yield her fruit when our body, proved by many temptations through the good works which it now performs, shall after the end of this frail life render its spirit to God, saying with the Psalmist: « Into thy hands I commend my spirit (Psal. XXX). » The fruit of which flesh, namely, will then be doubled with a happy joy, when that same flesh, made bright by the glory of the resurrection, shall together with its spirit be endowed with eternal beatitude; so that, as in this world both endured pains and tribulations for God, so after the day of judgment they may with equal joy receive 582Athe mansions of that highest and incomparable glory promised by God. Of which the same Lord says to his disciples: « In my Father's house there are many mansions (Joan. XIV). » Therefore, since the intention of our mind, according as its powers support it, has also labored to show what that earth is which is satisfied from the fruit of God's works, it now remains that it speak of those works of God themselves, and of the fruit of his works, unto the praise and glory of his name. And the works of God, generally or universally, are all creatures, which were created by God himself with a most wise ordering. Of which wondrous creation the authority of Holy Scripture thus testifies: « He that liveth for ever created all things together (Eccle. XVIII). » Whence David the prophet says to the Lord: « Thou hast made all things in wisdom (Psal. 582BCIII). » For truly God made all things in his wisdom, because in his Son, who is his wisdom and word and power, he ineffably founded all things. Which the same prophet, perceiving in the Holy Spirit, declares in another place, saying: « And thou in the beginning, O Lord, didst found the earth, and the heavens are the works of thy hands (Psal. CI). » [Vulg. Psal. CI, 26, Initio tu, Domine, terram fundasti, without in principio] And here the Prophet calls the Son of God the beginning, whom in a lower psalm he had named his wisdom. And by heaven and by earth we ought to understand the things which are contained in these two elements; since we believe that all creatures which were created by God are within the compass of these elements. Which they judge that Moses, the choicest of the prophets, perceived in the Holy Spirit, who, discoursing of the creation of the world, thus speaks, saying: « In the beginning 582CGod created heaven and earth (Gen. I); » as if he should say: In his Son, who is the beginning of every creature which he himself founded, he created heaven and earth, and the things which are contained in them. Nevertheless, among the other works which God almighty is believed to have founded through his Son, the same Son is read to have done a certain wondrous and special work. Of which work Isaiah the prophet, touched by the divine spirit, thus testifies: « His work was alien from him; that he might do his own work, he first did an alien work (Isa. XXVIII). » [Vulg. Isa. XXVIII, 21, ut faciat opus suum, alienum opus ejus: ut operetur opus suum, peregrinum est opus ejus ab eo] Which words of the holy prophet, because they are exceedingly obscure, and since they cannot easily be found in the other prophets, ought to be weighed by us with anxious attention, in that they were by no means uttered by so great a prophet 582Dwithout the weight of a great mystery. For these words have within them a vast mystery, covered by the outer rind of the letter as by a kind of veil. Which words, unless they be more thoroughly discussed, the hidden mystery which is within is in no wise brought forth into the light. What then is it that the prophet says, that the work of the Son of God was alien from God himself? For what is it that he says, that in order to do his own work he first did an alien one? Let us therefore seek some example, by which, when it has been brought forward and discussed, we may more lucidly show the hidden mystery which in this sentence we desire to lay open. A certain lord speaks to a certain servant of his, saying (Matth. XXI): "Go first, work in my vineyard, and after this thou shalt work 339 in thine own vineyard; and know for certain that thou shalt in no wise work in thine own vineyard, unless thou shalt first have worked in 583Amy vineyard." Hearing this therefore, he works his lord's vineyard, and after this he does the work upon his own proper vineyard; and thus he first does an alien work, that afterwards he may do his own. So assuredly, so did the Lord Jesus Christ act. He first did an alien work, that afterwards he might do his own work. For to be born, to suffer, to be crucified, to die and to rise again was a work alien from his divinity. He himself invisible, impassible, immortal, being as he is coeternal and consubstantial with God the Father and the Holy Spirit. For the proper work of the Son of God was the redemption of the human race. But unless he were first born, and suffered, and died, and rose again, in no way would he redeem from death the human race, lost by its own free will. The Son of God therefore did an alien work, that afterwards he might do his 583Bown work, because he first endured the death which did not befit his divinity, that afterwards he might redeem the human race, which did befit his divinity. Behold, we have shown — yet not as is worthy — what are the general works of the Father and of the Son, or what are the works special to the Son only, such as to suffer death, which befits neither the divinity of that same Son nor of the Father himself. For human death regards the humanity of Christ only, but the divinity of the Father, and of that same Christ and of the Holy Spirit, remains and has remained utterly without experience of death or of any suffering. Let us then demonstrate what the fruit of God's works is, with which fruit we, who are earth, ought to be satisfied. For we reckon this to be the fruit of God's works: that, the works of the Lord himself 583Cwho made all things being considered, we should praise and glorify them. Let us know, I say, this to be the fruit of God's works: that from the consideration of creatures we should render thanks and praises, as is worthy, to the Creator himself. Who indeed out of no existing matter wondrously founded all things that were made, and by ineffable power created the first man from the slime of the earth, and breathed into him the insensible breath of life. Moreover — which is of greater glory and of more excellent dignity — he deigned to give to that same man, above the other creatures, his own image and likeness. For of no creature save of man alone does Holy Scripture bear witness (Gen. I) that it was formed or created to the image and likeness of God. Render therefore, O man, 583Drender, I say, thanks to the clemency and goodness of thy Creator. Be not, I beseech thee, be not ungrateful for the benefits conferred upon thee by him: answer, as much as thou canst, the bowels of his charity. To whom, according to thy possibility, thou canst answer on this condition, if thou wilt: if thou art willing to obey his commandments, which he delivered to thee for thy salvation, and if thou keep thyself free from all sin, 584Aand persevere in his service unto the last term of thy life. Of great authority therefore and of great dignity art thou, O man! God almighty created thee to his own image; his Son the Lord Jesus Christ redeemed [thee] with his own blood; by the Holy Spirit thou hast been mercifully enlightened; by the sevenfold grace of that same Holy Spirit thou hast been imbued unto the knowledge of the holy Trinity.

Thou representest the image of God in thyself so long as thou sinnest not; but if at any time thou consentest to sin, the image of God withdrawing from thee, thou art made like to the devil himself, who by sinning and by being proud withdrew from God, and his own self, who was the seal of the likeness of the glory of God, as Ezekiel the prophet says (cap. XXVIII), he irrecoverably damned and destroyed. Above we said 584Bthat, as once Moses first ascended Mount Sinai, and so at length had a soliloquy with the Lord concerning secret and mystical things, so holy Church had done. For she ascends as it were a great and lofty mountain when she came to the soliloquy of her Bridegroom, who is « beautiful in form above the sons of men (Psal. XLIV), » and sought of him, saying: Show me, thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou liest down, etc. Let her come therefore to the soliloquy of the almighty Father, and, the filth of all iniquity being removed from her, let her seek of him in like manner, with the affection of charity, where he himself lies down, and where he himself feeds. Therefore, before God the almighty Father speaks with the Bride of his Son, or before that same Bride deserves to hear from the same Father of her Bridegroom: Understand, O daughter, and see, and incline 584Cthine ear, and forget thy people and the house of thy father, and then where I feed or lie down I will show thee [Vulg. Psal. XLIV, 11, Audi, filia, et vide, et inclina aurem tuam, "Hearken, O daughter"] — before that come to pass, it is needful that our mind seek out with ever-watchful attention where in the divine oracles the Son of God is called a mountain, lest perchance our speech be convicted of falsehood by someone less learned, chiefly for this, that we have called Christ a mountain, and have made Mount Sinai equal to him by way of likeness. Many authorities therefore being passed over praeter missis, which testify to this which we say, let one sufficient and fitting authority alone be brought forth into the midst, as is worthy, to which the sons of spiritual grace and the friends of the divine law may gladly lend their spiritual ears, and the enemies of truth, or the less wise, may not have 584Danything to contradict. Daniel the prophet, privy to the secrets of God, is filled with the memory of the abundance of the sweetness of the Holy Spirit; and, expounding the wondrous dream of that great and terrible vision which the king of Babylon had seen, among the other things which he speaks forth to him he interprets Christ as the mountain, saying: Thou hadst seen, etc.