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Chapter 25SermC.1.25

Sermo 25

The Bride Answers Her Rivals with Patience

The bride, taunted by her rivals, responds not with insult but with patient kindness, calling the very women who despise her 'daughters of Jerusalem' and seeking their healing rather than her own revenge.

See, what I said in my discourse—that the bride is compelled to answer her rivals when they provoke her—is true: in body they seem to belong to the number of young girls, but in spirit they are far from it. She says, of course: I am black, but beautiful, daughters of Jerusalem.✦ It's clear that they spoke against her, taunting her blackness. But notice the bride's patience and kindness. For she not only didn't return insult for insult, but went further and blessed them, calling them daughters of Jerusalem, who by their own wickedness deserved rather to be called daughters of Babylon, or daughters of Baal, or whatever other name of reproach might've come to mind. Indeed, she had learned from the prophet—or rather from the anointing itself, which teaches gentleness—that a bruised reed mustn't be crushed, and a smoldering wick mustn't be extinguished.✦ Therefore she didn't think they should be provoked any further, already stirred up as they were, nor that any more goads of envy should be added, by which they were being tormented. Rather, even with those who hate peace, she strove to be a peacemaker, knowing that she was a debtor even to the foolish.✦ So she chose to soothe them with a kind name, because she was more concerned for the healing of the weak than for her own revenge.

The Leader as Physician of Souls

True spiritual superiors act as physicians, not masters, meeting inner murmurs and insults with gentle remedies rather than vengeance, and on four grounds the faithful can rightly be called daughters of Jerusalem.

This perfection is indeed something everyone should desire, but it is properly the mark of the best sort of leaders. Good and faithful superiors know that the care of souls entrusted to them is not a matter of show. Whenever they detect an inner murmur — betrayed by the tone of some woman's complaining voice, even if it breaks out against them personally with insults and abuse — recognizing themselves as physicians and not as masters, they at once prepare, against the soul's frenzy, not vengeance but a remedy.1 This, then, is the reason the bride says the daughters of Jerusalem are those very women whom she endures though they are malicious and slanderous: clearly so that with gentle speech she may soothe the complainers, calm their agitation, and heal their spite.2 For it is written: A peaceful tongue restrains quarrels. At other times, however, there are daughters of Jerusalem in a real sense who are of such a kind, and the bride does not falsely call them so. For whether on account of the Sacraments of the Church, which are indeed received indiscriminately along with the good; or on account of the equally common confession of faith; or on account of the bodily fellowship of the faithful, at the very least; or even on account of the hope of future salvation — from which they are entirely cut off as long as they live here, and are such as to be despaired of, however desperately they may live — they are not unfittingly called daughters of Jerusalem.34

Black Yet Beautiful: No Contradiction

The bride's confession 'I am black, but beautiful' contains no contradiction, since surface discoloration does not destroy inner beauty, as shown by common examples from eyes, ornaments, and hair.

Now let's see what that earlier statement might have been: 'I am black, but beautiful.'✦ Is there any contradiction in these words? Far from it! I say this for the simple, who can't tell the difference between color and form — since form pertains to composition, while blackness is a color.5 After all, not everything that is black is immediately ugly. Blackness in the pupil of the eye isn't unbecoming; certain black stones are pleasing in ornaments; and black hair against white faces even increases beauty and grace. So it's easy for you to notice the same thing in countless other things as well. There are countless things that you'll find discolored on the surface, yet beautiful in their composition.

The Bride's Pilgrimage and Future Glory

The bride is beautiful in character yet bears the blackness of pilgrimage, and while she will one day be presented without stain in the homeland, she now honestly confesses her present blemish rather than deceiving herself.

Perhaps, then, the bride can be understood in this way: she certainly bears the beauty of a well-ordered character, yet she does not lack the blemish of blackness — but that blackness is in the place of her pilgrimage.✦ Otherwise, it will be when the bridegroom of glory presents her to himself in the homeland, glorious, without stain or wrinkle or anything of that kind.✦ But if she were to say right now that she had no blackness, she would be deceiving herself, and the truth would not be in her. So don't be surprised that she said 'I am black,' and then, without hesitation, also boasts that she is beautiful.✦ For how could she not be beautiful, when it is said to her: 'Come, my beautiful one'?✦ But to whom is it said 'Come'? She had not yet arrived — in case anyone should think this saying was addressed to this black one, who still labors on the way as she journeys; but rather to that blessed one who now reigns completely without blackness in the homeland.✦

Blackness of the Old Life, Beauty of the New

The bride is black from her former life under the prince of this world but beautiful from the heavenly likeness she has put on in newness of life, having passed from the tents of Kedar to the curtains of Solomon.

But hear why she called herself black, and why she called herself beautiful.✦ Is she black, then, because of her dark way of life, which she formerly led under the prince of this world, still carrying the image of the earthly man — but beautiful from the heavenly likeness, which she later exchanged, now walking in newness of life?✦✦✦ But if that's the case, why doesn't she say, more naturally about the past, 'I was black, and I am not black'? If someone nevertheless prefers this reading, then what follows — 'like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon' — must be understood accordingly: she called herself a tent from her old way of life, indeed, under Kedar, but from the new, under Solomon.✦ For the prophet shows that 'curtains' means the same as 'tent,' saying: 'Suddenly my tents were laid waste, in an instant my curtains.'✦ First, then, she was black, like the lowliest tents of Kedar; afterwards, beautiful, like the curtains of a glorious king.✦

Paul, Black in the Eyes of the World

The saints' outward bearing is humble and despised, yet within they behold the glory of God; Paul is the prime example, bodily afflicted and counted as offscouring, yet truly black only by the world's judgment.

But let's see how each of these things looks toward the condition of a better life. If we consider the outward bearing of the saints — the one visible in their faces — how truly humble and lowly it is, even marked by a certain neglectful disregard; yet all the while, within, as the face is unveiled, they behold the glory of God and are transformed from brightness into brightness into that same image, as by the Spirit of the Lord: won't any such soul rightly seem able, in our eyes, to answer those who throw its blackness back at it: I am black, but beautiful?✦ Do you want me, then, to show you a soul that is at once both black and beautiful? His letters, they say, are weighty; but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech is despised.✦ This was Paul. And so, daughters of Jerusalem, you judge Paul by his bodily presence, and you despise him as discolored and deformed, because you see a little man afflicted by hunger and thirst, by cold and nakedness, by countless labors, by wounds beyond measure, and by frequent deaths?✦ These are the things that blacken Paul. For such a teacher of the nations is regarded as inglorious, unknown, black, and obscure — as, in short, the offscouring of this world.✦

Paul's Soul, Caught Up to the Third Heaven

Paul's soul, though despised in body, is most beautiful, penetrating by purity to the third heaven; judged black by human standards, she is beautiful by the divine and angelic standard, caring little for outward judgment because God looks upon the heart.

Truly, isn't this the very one caught up into paradise, who passes through the first and second heavens, and by purity penetrates even to the third heaven itself? O most beautiful soul! Even though she inhabits a weak little body, heavenly beauty has not despised her, angelic sublimity has not rejected her, divine splendor has not repelled her. Do you call her black? She is black, but beautiful, daughters of Jerusalem.✦ Black by your standard, beautiful by the divine and angelic standard. Even if she is black, it is only outwardly. But to her, being judged by you or by those who judge by outward appearance counts for the least.

Outward Blackness, Inward Brightness

Even if the bride is black outwardly, she is beautiful within to please the Bridegroom, and happy is the blackness that produces the brightness of mind, the light of knowledge and purity of conscience.

A human being sees the face, but God looks upon the heart.✦ So even if she's black on the outside, she's beautiful within, so she can please the one she's given herself to. For it is not for you — for whom she would still be pleasing if she remained so.6 She wouldn't be Christ's servant. Happy is the blackness that produces brightness of mind — the light of knowledge and purity of conscience.

God's Promise to Those Made White

God promises through Isaiah that scarlet sins shall become white as snow, and this outward blackness in the saints prepares a seat for wisdom, whose brightness fills the soul of the just, as it did Paul's.

Listen, finally, to what God promises through the prophet to those who are blackened in this way — people whom either the humility of repentance or the zeal of love, like the heat of the sun, seems to have darkened.✦ "If your sins are like scarlet, they shall be made white as snow; and if they are red like crimson, they shall be white as wool."✦ This outward blackness in holy people is by no means to be despised, since it produces an inner brightness and so prepares a seat for wisdom. For the brightness of eternal life is wisdom, as the Wise One declares; and the soul in which wisdom has chosen to dwell must be shining white.7 And if the soul of the just person is the seat of wisdom, I would say without hesitation that the soul of the just person is shining white. And perhaps justice itself is brightness. Now Paul was a just man, for whom a crown of justice had been laid up.✦ Paul's soul was shining white, accordingly, and wisdom dwelt in it, so that he spoke wisdom among the mature — the wisdom hidden in a mystery that none of the rulers of this world has known.✦

Paul's Dark Beauty Above All Flesh

Paul's outward austerity and bodily weakness are more beautiful than any royal splendor or fading adornment, for all fleshly beauty is headed toward corruption.

Furthermore, that outward darkness in him — the brightness of wisdom and justice — whether it flowed from the frailty of his body, from his many labors, from his fasts and long vigils, was at work in him or was brought forth through him. And so what is dark in Paul is more beautiful than any outward adornment — more beautiful even than any royal splendor. No beauty of the flesh can compare to it — not skin that is parched and burning, not a face discolored and close to decay, not a fine garment subject to old age, not the gleam of gold or the brilliance of gems, or anything of that sort — all of which are headed for corruption.

Glory Within, Not Without

The saints devote themselves entirely to adorning the inner self made in God's image, glorying in the testimony of conscience and in the Lord alone, and even glorying in tribulations so that all things work together for good.

Rightly, then, all the care of the saints, having scorned the superfluous adornment and cultivation of their outer self — which is, of course, destined to decay — devotes and occupies itself entirely with cultivating and adorning that inner self, which is made in the image of God and is being renewed from day to day. For they are certain that nothing can be more welcome to God than his own image, if it has been restored to its true beauty. And so all their glory is within, not outside — that is, not in a bloom of hay or in the mouth of the crowd, but in the Lord. And so they say: 'This is our glory, the testimony of our conscience' — that God alone is the judge of conscience, and he alone they desire to please; and to please him alone is the sole true and highest glory. Clearly no modest glory is the one found within, in which even the Lord of glory deigns to glory, as David says: 'All the glory of the king's daughter is from within.' And each one's own glory is safer when they possess it within themselves and not in another. But we must glory not only, perhaps, in the inner brightness, but also in the outer darkness and exterior condition — so that nothing of the saints' experience is entirely lost, but all things work together for good. Therefore we should glory not only in hope, but also in our tribulations.

Glorying in Weakness

The saints gladly glory in their weaknesses so that Christ's power may dwell in them, for power is made perfect in weakness, and when they are weak they are strong and powerful.

I will gladly glory in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. What a desirable weakness, when it is made up for by the power of Christ. Who will grant me not only to grow weak, but even to be left utterly destitute and to fail completely out of my own self, so that I may be made firm by the power of the Lord of hosts?8 For power is made perfect in weakness. And so he says: When I am weak, then I am strong and powerful.

The Bride's Blackness Is the Likeness of Christ

The bride glories in her blackness because it reproduces the bridegroom's own suffering, thinking nothing more glorious than to bear the reproach of Christ, whose form she recognizes in her humiliation.

Since this is so, the bride beautifully turns to her own glory what her rivals hurl at her as a reproach — boasting that she is not only beautiful but also black. For she is not ashamed of a blackness she knows had already appeared in the bridegroom — and what great glory it is to be made like the one to whom she is joined! She thinks nothing more glorious for herself than to carry the reproach of Christ. That is why there is a voice full of utter exultation and salvation: "May I never glory except in the cross of my Lord Jesus Christ!"✦ The disgrace of the cross is welcome to the one who is not ungrateful to the Crucified. It is blackness, but it is the form and likeness of the Lord. Go to holy Isaiah, and he will describe to you the one he saw in the Spirit. For whom else does he call a man of sorrows, and one who knows weakness — and that there was no appearance or beauty to him?✦

The Bridegroom: Black for Us, Beautiful in Himself

Christ was wounded for our iniquities and counted without beauty, yet he is also fair in form beyond the sons of men, so the bridegroom is wholly beautiful in himself and wholly black on account of our sin.

And he added: We thought of him as someone leprous, struck down by God, and humbled.✦ But he himself was wounded because of our iniquities, worn away because of our crimes; and by his bruise we are healed.✦9 See how black he is. Add too that holy word of David: 'Fair in form beyond the sons of men'; and you have the whole picture in the bridegroom, which the bride testified about herself in this passage.✦10

Christ's Humiliation and Transfigured Beauty

Christ can say 'I am black, but beautiful,' for he was a worm without beauty on our account, yet in himself he is radiant in truth, gentleness, and justice, and the blessed soul recognizes him in its own form.

Does it even seem right to you that he himself could answer his rivals and the Jews according to what has been said: 'I am black, but beautiful, daughter of Jerusalem'?✦ Clearly black — there was no appearance, no beauty to him — black, because he was a worm and not a man, the reproach of men and the outcast of the people.✦✦ In the end he made himself sin — and I would be afraid to call him black.✦ Look at him, truly — filthy with rags, bruised with blows, smeared with spit, pale with death — and then you will surely confess he is black.✦✦ Ask the apostles too what kind of person they saw him to be on the mountain; or at least what kind the angels long to gaze upon — and still you will marvel that he is beautiful.✦ So he is beautiful in himself, black because of you. How beautiful you are, and I recognize you in my own form, Lord Jesus! Not only because of the divine miracles by which you shine forth, but also because of your truth, your gentleness, and your justice.

Imitating the Beautiful and the Dark

The blessed soul already receives the first fruits of glory yet is not sluggish to imitate what is beautiful in Christ nor ashamed to endure what is dark, and though the comparison of Kedar and Solomon is obscure, the one who reveals mysteries will open to those who knock.

Blessed is the one who, carefully observing you living as a human being among human beings, offers themselves as your imitator to the best of their ability. In this way, the beautiful one has already received the first fruits of her blessed gift; yet she is not too sluggish to imitate what is beautiful in you, nor too ashamed to endure what is dark. This is why she used to say, 'I am dark but beautiful, daughters of Jerusalem,' and she added the comparison: 'Like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon.'✦ But that comparison is obscure, and not at all for the weary to reach toward. You have time to knock. If you do not hold back, the one who reveals mysteries will be present; the one who even invites you to knock will not hesitate to open. For it is he who opens and no one shuts: Jesus Christ, our Lord, the Bridegroom of the Church, who is blessed forever and ever.✦ Amen.

Read the original Latin

Ecce quod dixeram in sermone, quia aemulis lacessentibus sponsa respondere cogatur, quae corpore quidem de numero adolescentularum esse videntur, animo autem longe sunt. Ait nempe: Nigra sum, sed formosa, filiae Ierusalem. Patet quod detraherent ei, nigredinem improperantes. Sed adverte sponsae patientiam ac benignitatem. Non modo enim non reddidit maledictum pro maledicto, sed insuper benedixit, filias Ierusalem vocans, quae magis pro sua nequitia filiae Babylonis, vel filiae Baal, aut si quod aliud nomen improperii occurrisset, appellari meruerant. Sane didicerat a propheta, imo ab ipsa unctione quae docet suavitatem, calamum quassatum non conterendum, et linum fumigans non exstinguendum. Propterea non putavit amplius irritandas satis commotas per sed nec quidquam addendum stimulis invidiae, qua torquebantur. Magis autem cum his qui oderunt pacem, studuit esse pacifica, sciens se etiam insipientibus debitricem.

Maluit ergo ipsas favorabili demulcere vocabulo, quia curae fuit ei infirmarum potius operam dare saluti quam propriae ultioni,

Omnibus quidem optanda est ista perfectio; proprie autem optimorum forma est praelatorum. Sciunt quippe boni fidelesque praepositi, languentium sibi creditam animarum curam, non pompam. Cumque internum murmur cuiuspiam illarum querulae vocis indicio deprehendunt, etsi in ipsos usque ad convicia et contumelias prorumpentis; medicos se et non dominos agnoscentes, parant confestim adversus phrenesim animae, non vindictam, sed medicinam. Haec igitur ratio cur sponsa filias Ierusalem dicat eas ipsas, quas malevolas sustinet atque maledicas: videlicet ut in blando sermone deliniat murmurantes, commotionem sedet, sanet livorem. Scriptum est enim: Lingua pacifica compescit lites. Alias vero filiae revera Ierusalem quodam modo sunt quae huiusmodi sunt, nec falso ita eas nominat sponsa. Sive enim propter sacramenta Ecclesiae, quae indifferenter quidem cum bonis suscipiunt; sive propter fidei aeque communem confessionem, sive ob fidelium corporalem saltem societatem, seu etiam propter spem futurae salutis, a qua omnino non sunt, quandiu hic vivunt, vel tales desperandae, quantumlibet vivant desperate; non incongrue filiae Ierusalem nominantur.

Videamus iam quid illud fuerit dicere: Nigra sum, sed formosa. Nullane in his verbis repugnantia est? Absit! Propter simplices dico, qui inter colorem et formam discernere non noverunt, cum forma ad compositionem pertineat, nigredo color sit. Non omne denique quod nigrum est continuo deforme est. Nigredo, verbi causa, in pupilla non dedecet; et nigri quidam lapilli in ornamentis placent; et nigri capilli candidis vultibus etiam decorem augent et gratiam. Sic tibi quoque facile advertere est in rebus innumeris. Quanquam sine numero sunt, quae in superficie quidem reperies decoloria, in compositione vero decora.

Tali fortassis modo potest sponsa, cum pulchritudine utique compositionis, naevo non carere nigredinis; sed sane in loco peregrinationis suae. Alioquin erit cum eam sibi in patria exhibebit sponsus gloriae gloriosam, non habentem maculam, aut rugam, aut aliquid huiusmodi. At vero nunc si diceret, quia nigredinem non haberet, se ipsam seduceret, et veritas in ea non esset. Quamobrem ne mireris quia dixit: Nigra sum, et rursum nihilominus, quia formosa sit, gloriatur. Quomodo enim non formosa cui dicitur: Veni, formosa mea? Cui autem dicitur: Veni, nondum pervenerat, ne forte quis putet hoc dictum, non quidem huic nigrae, quae adhuc laborat veniendo in via; sed beatae illi, quae iam prorsus absque nigredine regnat in patria.

Sed audi unde nigram et unde formosam se dixerit. An nigram quidem ob tetram conversationem, quam prius habuit sub principe huius mundi, imaginem terrestris hominis adhuc portans; formosam vero de coelesti similitudine, quam postea commutavit, ambulans iam in novitate vitae? Sed si hoc est, cur non magis de praeterito, nigra fui, et non nigra sum, dicit? Si cui tamen placet hic sensus, id quod sequitur, sicut tabernacula Cedar, sicut pelles Salomonis, sic oportet intelligi, ut de veteri quidem conversatione Cedar, de nova vero Salomonis se dixerit tabernaculum. Hoc enim esse pelles, quod tabernaculum, propheta ostendit dicens: Repente vastata sunt tabernacula mea, sabito pelles meae. Prius igitur nigra, sicut vilissima tabernacula Cedar: postea formosa, sicut pelles gloriosi regis.

Sed videamus quomodo ad statum potius vitae potioris utrumque respiciat. Si consideremus habitum exteriorem sanctorum, eum qui in facie est, quam sit humilis utique et abiectus, et quadam neglectus incuria; cum tamen identidem intus revelata facie gloriam Dei speculantes, in eamdem imaginem transformentur de claritate in claritatem, tanquam a Domini Spiritu : nonne una quaelibet talis anima merito nobis videbitur posse respondere exprobrantibus sibi nigredinem: Nigra sum, sed formosa? Vis tibi denique demonstrem animam et nigram pariter, et formosum? Epistolae, inquiunt, graves sunt; sed praesentia corporis infirma, et sermo contemptibilis. Paulus hic erat. Itaque Paulum, o filiae Ierusalem, de praesentia corporis aestimatis, et tanquam decolorem deformemque contemnitis, quia cernitis homunculum afflictari in fame et siti, et frigore et nuditate, in laboribus plurimis, in plagis supra modum, in mortibus frequenter? Haec sunt quae denigrant Paulum. Pro huiusmodi doctor gentium reputatur inglorius, ignobilis, niger, obscurus; tanquam denique peripsema huius mundi.

Enimvero nonne ipse est qui rapitur in paradisum, qui unum alterumque perambulans, usque ad tertium sui puritate penetrat coelum? O vere pulcherrima anima! quam, etsi infirmum inhabitantem corpusculum, pulchritudo coelestis admittere non despexit, angelica sublimitas non reiecit, claritas divina non repulit. Hanc vos dicitis nigram? Nigra est, sed formosa, filiae Ierusalem. Nigra vestro, formosa divino angelicoque iudicio. Etsi nigra est, forinsecus est. Sibi autem pro minimo est, ut a vobis iudicetur, aut ab his qui secundum faciem iudicant.

Homo siquidem videt in facie, Deus autem intuetur cor. Propterea etsi nigra foris, sed intus formosa, ut ei placeat cui se probavit. Non enim vobis: quibus si adhuc placeret. Christi servus non esset. Felix nigredo, quae mentis candorem parit, lumen scientiae, conscientiae puritatem.

Audi denique quid per prophetam Deus promittat istiusmodi nigris, quos aut humilitas poenitentiae, aut charitatis zelus, tanquam solis aestus, decolorasse videtur. Si fuerint, ait, peccata vestra ut coccinum, quasi nix dealbabuntur; et si fuerint rubra quasi vermiculus, velut lana alba erunt. Non plane contemnenda in sanctis ista nigredo extera, quae candorem operatur internum, et sedem proinde praeparat sapientiae. Candor est enim vitae aeternae sapientia, ut Sapiens definit : et candidam oportet esse animam, in qua ipsa sedem elegerit. Quod si anima iusti sedes est sapientiae, haud dubie dixerim animam iusti esse candidam. Et fortassis iustitia ipsa candor est. Iustus autem erat Paulus, cui reposita fuerat corona iustitiae. Candida proinde Pauli anima erat, et sapientia sedebat in ea, ita ut sapientiam loqueretur inter perfectos, sapientiam in mysterio absconditam, quam nemo principum mundi huius agnovit.

Porro hunc in eo sapientiae, iustitiaeque candorem nigredo illa exterior de praesentia corporis infirma, de laboribus plurimis, de ieiuniis ac vigiliis multis, aut operabatur, aut promerebatur. Ideoque et quod nigrum est Pauli, speciosius est omni ornatu extrinseco, omni etiam regio cultu. Non comparabitur ei quantalibet pulchritudo carnis, non cutis utique nitida et arsura, non facies colorata vicina putredini, non vestis pretiosa obnoxia vetustati, non auri species, splendorve gemmarum, seu quaeque talia, quae omnia sunt ad corruptionem.

Merito proinde omnis cura sanctorum, spreto ornatu cultuque superfluo exterioris sui hominis, qui certe corrumpitur, omni se diligentia praebet et occupat excolendo ac decorando interiori illi, qui ad imaginem Dei est, et renovatur de die in diem. Certi sunt enim Deo non posse esse quidquam acceptius imagine sua, si proprio fuerit restituta decori. Propterea et omnis gloria eorum intus, non foris est; hoc est, non in flore feni, aut in ore vulgi, sed in Domino. Unde et dicunt: Gloria nostra haec est, testimonium conscientiae nostrae : quod conscientiae solus sit arbiter Deus, cui soli placere desiderant; et cui placere, sola vera et summa gloria est. Non mediocris plane gloria illa quae intus est, in qua gloriari dignatur et Dominus gloriae, dicente David: Omnis gloria eius filiae regis ab intus. Et tutior sua cuique gloria, dum habet eam in semetipso, et non in altero. At non in solo fortassis candore interno, sed in exteriori quoque nigredine et exteriore gloriandum, ne quid omnino sanctis depereat, sed omnia cooperantur in bonum. Non solum igitur in spe, sed et gloriari in tribulationibus.

Libenter, ait, gloriabor in infirmitatibus meis, ut inhabitet in me virtus Christi. Optanda infirmitas, quae Christi virtute compensatur. Quis dabit mihi non solum infirmari, sed et destitui ac deficere penitus a memetipso, ut Domini virtutum virtute stabiliar? Nam virtus in infirmitate perficitur. Denique ait: Quando infirmor, tunc fortis sum et potens.

Quod cum ita sit, pulchre sponsa convertit sibi ad gloriam, quod ei pro opprobrio ab aemulis intorquetur; non modo formosam, sed et nigram esse se glorians. Non enim erubescit nigredinem, quam novit praecessisse et in sponso: cui similari quantae etiam gloriae est? Nil sibi gloriosius proinde putat, quam Christi portare opprobrium. Unde vox illa prorsus exsultationis et salutis: Absit mihi gloriari, nisi in cruce Domini mei Iesu Christi! Grata ignominia crucis ei qui Crucifixo ingratus non est. Nigredo est, sed forma et similitudo Domini. Vade ad sanctum Isaiam, et describet tibi qualem in spiritu illum viderit. Quem namque alium dicit virum doloris, et scientem infirmitatem; et quia non erat ei species neque decor?

Et addidit: Nos putavimus eum tanquam leprosum, et percussum a Deo, et humiliatum. Ipse autem vulneratus est propter iniquitates nostras, attritus est propter scelera nostra; et livore eius sanati sumus. Ecce unde niger. Iunge et illud sancti David: Speciosus forma prae filiis hominum; et habes totum in sponso, quod sponsa de se hoc in loco testata est.

Num tibi recte et ipse videtur secundum ea quae dicta sunt, aemulis posse respondere Iudaeis: Niger sum, sed formosus, filii Ierusalem? Niger plane, cui non erat species, neque decor; niger, quia vermis et non homo, opprobrium hominum, et abiectio plebis. Denique se ipsum fecit peccatum : et nigrum dicere verear? Intuere sane pannis sordidum, plagis lividum, illitum sputis, pallidum morte; et nigrum vel tunc profecto fatebere. Percunctare etiam apostolos, eumdem ipsum qualem in monte perspexerint; aut certe angelos, in qualem prospicere concupiscant; et nihilominus formosum mirabere. Ergo formosus in se, niger propter te. Quam formosum et in mea forma te agnosco, Domine Iesu! non ob divina tantum quibus effulges miracula, sed et propter veritatem, et mansuetudinem, et iustitiam.

Beatus qui te in his hominem inter homines conversantem diligenter observans, se ipsum praebet pro viribus imitatorem tui. Hoc iam beatitudinis munus formosa tua primitias suae dotis accepit; nec quod formosum est tui, imitari pigra; nec quod nigrum sustinere confusa. Unde et dicebat: Nigra sum, sed formosa, filiae Ierusalem; et addidit similitudinem: Sicut tabernacula Cedar, sicut pelles Salomonis. At istud obscurum est, nec attingendum omnino fatigatis. Habetis tempus ad pulsandum. Si non dissimulatis, aderit qui revelat mysteria; nec cunctabitur aperire, qui et ad pulsandum invitat. Ipse est enim qui aperit, et nemo claudit, sponsus Ecclesiae Iesus Christus Dominus noster, qui est benedictus in saecula saeculorum. Amen.

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩Song.1.5 — I am dark and lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon.
  2. ↩Isa.42.3 — A bruised reed he will not break, and a dimly burning wick he will not quench; he will bring forth justice to truth.
  3. ↩Rom.1.14 — I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish.
  4. ↩Song.1.5 — I am dark and lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon.
  5. ↩Song.1.5 — I am dark and lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon.
  6. ↩Eph.5.27 — so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, so that she might be holy and blameless.
  7. ↩Song.1.5 — I am dark and lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon.
  8. ↩Song.2.10 — My beloved answered and said to me, 'Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, and come away.'
  9. ↩Song.2.10-Song.2.13 — My beloved answered and said to me, 'Arise, my darling, my beautiful one, and come away.' Song.2.11 — For behold, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone. Song.2.12 — The blossoms have appeared in the earth; the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land. Song.2.13 — The fig tree has ripened its early figs, and the vines in blossom give off their fragrance. Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come away.
  10. ↩Song.1.5 — I am dark and lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon.
  11. ↩Eph.2.2 — in which you once walked according to the age of this world, according to the ruler of the authority of the air, the spirit now working in the sons of disobedience;
  12. ↩1Cor.15.49 — And just as we have borne the image of the earthly one, we will also bear the image of the heavenly one.
  13. ↩Rom.6.4 — Therefore we were buried with him through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so also we might walk in newness of life.
  14. ↩Song.1.5 — I am dark and lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon.
  15. ↩Isa.38.12 — My dwelling is removed and folded up from me, like a shepherd's tent. I have rolled up my life like a weaver; he cuts me off from the loom. From day to night you bring me to an end.
  16. ↩Song.1.5 — I am dark and lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon.
  17. ↩Song.1.5 — I am dark and lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon.
  18. ↩2Cor.10.10 — For his letters, he says, are weighty and strong, but his bodily presence is weak, and his speech is of no account.
  19. ↩2Cor.11.23-2Cor.11.27 — Are they servants of Christ? I am speaking as one beside myself—I am more: in labors far more, in prisons far more, in beatings beyond measure, in deaths often. 2Cor.11.24 — Five times I received from the Jews forty lashes minus one. 2Cor.11.25 — Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. A night and a day I spent in the deep. 2Cor.11.26 — In dangers from rivers, dangers from bandits, dangers from my own people, dangers from Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers at sea, dangers among false brothers; 2Cor.11.27 — in toil and hardship, in sleepless nights many times, in hunger and thirst, in fastings many times, in cold and nakedness
  20. ↩1Cor.4.13 — when slandered, we speak gently; we have become like the world's refuse, the scum of everything, even to this moment.
  21. ↩Song.1.5 — I am dark and lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon.
  22. ↩1Sam.16.7 — But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, for I have rejected him. For not as man sees does God see, for man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart."
  23. ↩Isa.1.18 — Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.
  24. ↩Isa.1.18 — Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.
  25. ↩2Tim.4.8 — From now on, there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on that day — and not only to me, but also to all who have loved his appearing.
  26. ↩1Cor.2.6-1Cor.2.8 — Yet we do speak wisdom among the mature—wisdom, however, not of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are being set aside. 1Cor.2.7 — But we speak God's wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom that God foreordained before the ages for our glory. 1Cor.2.8 — None of the rulers of this age understood it; for if they had understood, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.
  27. ↩Gal.6.14 — But may it never be that I should boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.
  28. ↩Isa.53.2-Isa.53.3 — He grew up before him like a young plant, like a root out of dry ground. He had no form or majesty to draw our eyes, and no beauty that we should desire him. Isa.53.3 — He was despised and rejected by people, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; like one from whom people hide their faces, he was despised, and we did not regard him.
  29. ↩Isa.53.4 — And Surely he carried our sicknesses and bore our pains, yet we considered him stricken, struck by God, and afflicted.
  30. ↩Isa.53.5 — But he was pierced for our transgressions, crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.
  31. ↩Ps.44.3 — For it was not by their own sword that they took the land, nor did their own arm save them; but it was your right hand, your arm, and the light of your face, for you delighted in them.
  32. ↩Song.1.5 — I am dark and lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon.
  33. ↩Ps.21.7 — For you have placed blessings upon him forever; you gladden him with joy in your presence.
  34. ↩Isa.53.3-Isa.53.4 — He was despised and rejected by people, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; like one from whom people hide their faces, he was despised, and we did not regard him. Isa.53.4 — And Surely he carried our sicknesses and bore our pains, yet we considered him stricken, struck by God, and afflicted.
  35. ↩2Cor.5.21 — God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
  36. ↩Matt.26.67 — Then they spat in his face and struck him, and some slapped him,
  37. ↩Isa.52.14 — Just as many were appalled at you — so his appearance was disfigured beyond that of any man, and his form beyond the sons of Adam.
  38. ↩Matt.17.2 — And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his garments became white as the light.
  39. ↩Song.1.5 — I am dark and lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon.
  40. ↩Rev.3.7 — And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These things says the Holy One, the True One, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, and shuts and no one opens.

Notes

  1. 1 ↩prorumpentis is ambiguous in agreement; taken as referring to the murmuring/complaint breaking forth against the superior.
  2. 2 ↩sedet is from sedo 'calm, settle' (not sedeo 'sit'); rendered as 'calm' with this sense.
  3. 3 ↩The sive ... sive ... sive ... seu ... vel chain is rendered with 'whether on account of ... or on account of ... or on account of ... or even on account of' to preserve the explanatory alternation without archaic English.
  4. 4 ↩desperandae (gerundive) + desperate (adverb) plays on the root; rendered as 'such as to be despaired of, however desperately they may live' to capture the wordplay's sense.
  5. 5 ↩The distinction between forma (form/shape) and color is drawn from Aristotelian-scholastic categories. Form pertains to the structured composition of a thing, while color is an accidental quality. The point is that the Bride's 'blackness' is a matter of surface color, not of her essential form or proportion.
  6. 6 ↩The truncated Latin 'quibus si adhuc placeret' is elliptical; the sense is that the soul's outward blackness still pleases those (human judges) who value appearances. The translation supplies the implied contrast with God's judgment from s1.
  7. 7 ↩The phrase ut Sapiens definit may refer to a sapiential book (Ecclesiasticus/Sirach) or to Wisdom personified; the exact source is uncertain.
  8. 8 ↩Domini virtutum rendered 'the Lord of hosts' to preserve the traditional force of the divine title; 'stabiliar' rendered 'made firm' to capture the sense of being established or stabilized.
  9. 9 ↩Vulgate quotation of Isaiah 53:5; 'livor' (bruise/discoloration) is the Vulgate term underlying 'by his stripes we are healed'.
  10. 10 ↩Quoted phrase 'Speciosus forma prae filiis hominum' is Psalm 44:3 (Vulgate 43:3) in the Vulgate form.

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