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Chapter 43SermC.1.43

Sermo 43

The Beloved as a Bundle of Myrrh

The bride's beloved is a small bundle of myrrh resting between her breasts, revealing how divine humility draws the majestic King near and how love transforms coming tribulation into joyful confidence.

My beloved is a little bundle of myrrh to me, resting between my breasts.✦ Before, he was a king; now, he is a beloved. Before, on a royal couch; now, between the breasts of the bride. Great is the power of humility, before which even the majesty of God bends down so easily. Soon the name of reverence was changed into the language of friendship: and the one who was far off has, in a short time, become near.✦ My beloved is a little bundle of myrrh to me.✦ Myrrh is a bitter thing — hard and harsh — signifying the tribulations that are coming. Seeing what threatens her for the sake of her beloved, she speaks with joy, confident that she will bravely endure everything. The disciples went on their way rejoicing, the text says, from the presence of the council, because they had been counted worthy to suffer abuse for the name of Jesus.✦

Why the Bundle Is Small

The bundle is called small because love, enlightened by the Incarnation and the promise of glory, makes present suffering light and personally appropriated.

For this reason, then, the Bride calls her beloved not a heavy bundle but a small one, because in the light of his love she counts whatever toil and pain threaten her as light. Rightly a small bundle, because a little child is born for us.✦ Rightly a small bundle, because the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the future glory that will be revealed to us.✦ For this is what he says: that which is momentary and light in our present tribulation is working out for us, beyond all measure, in the height of glory, an eternal weight of glory.✦ So there will one day be for us a vast heap of glory, which for now is a small bundle of myrrh. Is it not a small bundle, whose yoke is sweet and whose burden is light?✦ Not because it is light in itself — for the harshness of suffering is not light, nor the bitterness of death — but light, nevertheless, to the one who loves. And so she does not say simply, 'My beloved is a bundle of myrrh,' but 'to me,' she says, 'the one I love is a bundle.'

Love Strong as Death

Love overcomes every bitterness, yet the bride's confidence rests not in herself but in the Lord who dwells fearlessly with her through the valley of death.

And so he calls the beloved one a bundle, showing that the power of love overcomes the trouble of every bitterness, because love is as strong as death.✦ And so that you may know that she is not to boast in herself, but in the Lord, and not to rely on her own strength but on the Lord's help, he says that the one will rest between her breasts who, free from fear, may sing: Even if I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me.✦12

Holding the Beloved Between the Breasts

The two breasts signify congratulation and compassion, and the wise soul holds the beloved between them so that neither prosperity nor adversity can overthrow the heart.

I remember that in one of the earlier sermons (Serm. 10, num. (1) that the two brides' breasts defined congratulation and compassion, according to Paul's teaching, who says: Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.✦ Because, living as she does among adverse and prosperous circumstances, she knows that dangers are never absent on either side; she wants to hold the beloved in the midst of these breasts of hers — the beloved, fortified by constant protection against both, so that joyful things don't make him arrogant and sorrowful things don't cast him down. You too, if you are wise, will imitate the bride's prudence, and you won't allow this bundle of myrrh — so dear, drawn from the deepest place of your heart — to be torn away even for an hour; always holding in memory and constantly turning over in meditation all the bitter things that he endured for you, so that you too can say: A bundle of myrrh is my beloved to me; he will linger between my breasts.

Gathering the Myrrh of the Passion

In place of lacking merits, the preacher gathered a bundle from every bitterness of Christ's life—from infancy through the cross and burial—and pours forth eternal gratitude for the mercies that gave him life.

And I, brothers, from the beginning of my conversion, in place of the heap of merits I knew I lacked, took care to gather for myself this bundle and to place it between my breasts, gathered from all the anxieties and bitternesses of my Lord: first, to be sure, those infant necessities; then, the labors he endured in preaching, the fatigues in going about, the vigils in prayer, the temptations in fasting, the tears in suffering with others, the snares in conversing; finally, the perils from false brethren, the insults, the spittings, the blows, the mockeries, the reproaches, the nails, and things like these, which the evangelical forest is known to have brought forth most abundantly for the salvation of our race.✦ Where indeed, among so many fragrant little branches of this myrrh, I thought that myrrh too by which he was given drink on the cross by no means to be passed over; nor yet that one by which he was anointed in burial.✦✦ Of which myrrhs, in the first he applied to himself the bitterness of my sins; in the second he dedicated the future incorruption of my body. The memory of the abundance of sweetness in these things I will pour forth as long as I live; into eternity I will not forget those mercies, because in them I have been brought to life.✦✦

The Saving Draught of Meditation

The mercies longed for by saints are harvested by the preacher as a saving bundle that yields both bitter compunction and sweet consolation, guiding the soul safely along the royal path and revealing the Judge as gentle and imitable.

These are the things holy David once sought with tears: 'Let your mercies come to me,' he said, 'and I will live.' And these are the things another one of the saints recalled with groaning, saying: 'The mercies of the Lord are many.' How many kings and prophets wanted to see these things, and yet did not see them. They labored, and I entered into their labors; I harvested the myrrh they planted; this saving bundle has been kept for me; no one will take it away from me — it will dwell between my breasts. I said that meditating on these things is wisdom for me — establishing in them perfection of justice for me, in them the fullness of knowledge, in them the riches of salvation, in them the abundance of merits. From these things I sometimes drink a saving draught of bitterness, and from them again, a sweet anointing of consolation. These things raise me up in adversity, restrain me in prosperity, and amid the joys and sorrows of present life they offer safe guidance along the royal path to one who walks it, driving back impending evils from every side. These things reconcile the judge of the world to me, while they portray one who is fearsome to the powers as gentle and humble; while they represent him as not only approachable but also imitable — the one who is unapproachable to the principalities, terrible before the kings of the earth.

The Sublime Philosophy of the Crucified

The preacher's highest wisdom is to know Jesus and him crucified, embracing the crucified Lord between the breasts as sweeter and more restoring than even the bread of contemplation.

That's why these things are always on my tongue, as you know; they are always in my heart, as God knows; they come easily to my pen, as is plain to see; and for now, this is my highest philosophy: to know Jesus, and him crucified.✦ I don't search, like the bride, for where he might rest at noon; instead, I hold close the one I love, dwelling between my breasts.✦✦3 I don't look for where he might feed at noon; I behold the Savior on the cross.✦ That is more exalted, this is sweeter; that is bread, this is milk; this restores the inward parts of little ones, this fills the breasts of mothers: and so he will dwell between my breasts.✦✦

Keeping Christ Before Your Eyes

Beloved listeners are urged to embed the bundle in the heart, keep Christ always before the eyes like Simeon, Mary, and Joseph, so that beholding his hardships makes their own light.

And you, most beloved, gather up for yourselves this bundle, so deeply beloved; embed it in the marrow of your heart, fortify the entrance of your breast with it, so that it too may dwell for you within your embrace.✦ Always keep him not behind your back, but before your eyes, so that you don't carry him without savoring him, and the burden weighs you down without the fragrance lifting you up. Remember, because Simeon received him in his arms; Mary carried him in her womb, cherished him in her lap, and the bride placed him for herself within her embrace.✦ And so that I leave nothing out, the word came to be in the hand of the prophet Zechariah, and likewise in the case of certain others. And I imagine that Joseph, Mary's husband, often smiled at him over his knees. All these had him before them, and no one behind. Let them be an example for you, so that you too may do the same. For if, seeing before your eyes the one you carry, you have the Lord's hardships clearly in view, you'll bear your own more lightly, with the Church's bridegroom himself helping you, who is God blessed above all things forever.✦

Amen

The sermon closes with a single doxological 'Amen.'

Amen.

Read the original Latin

Fasciculus myrrhae dilectus meus mihi, inter ubera mea commorabitur. Ante rex, modo dilectus; ante in accubitu regio, modo inter sponsae ubera. Magna humilitatis virtus, cui etiam Deitatis maiestas tam facile se inclinat. Cito reverentiae nomen in vocabulum amicitiae mutatum est: et qui longe erat, in brevi factus est prope. Fasciculus myrrhae dilectus meus mihi. Myrrha, amara res, dura et aspera tribulationum significat. Ea sibi dilecti causa imminere prospiciens, gratulabunda id loquitur, confidens se omnia viriliter subituram. Ibant, inquit, gaudentes discipuli a conspectu concilii, quoniam digni habiti sunt pro nomine Iesu contumeliam pati.

Propterea denique non fascem, sed fasciculum dilectum dicit, quod leve prae amore ipsius ducat, quidquid laboris immineat et doloris. Bene fasciculus, quia parvulus natus est nobis. Bene fasciculus, quia non sunt condignae passiones huius temporis ad futuram gloriam quae revelabitur in nobis. Id enim, inquit, quod in praesenti est momentaneum et leve tribulationis nostrae, supra modum in sublimitate aeternum pondus gloriae operatur in nobis. Erit ergo quandoque nobis ingens cumulus gloriae, qui modo est fasciculus myrrhae. An non fasciculus, cuius iugum suave est, et onus leve? Non quia levis in se (nec enim levis passionis asperitas, mortis amaritudo), sed levis tamen amanti. Et ideo non ait tantum: Fasciculus myrrhae dilectus meus; sed: Mihi, inquit, quae diligo, fasciculus est.

Unde et dilectum nominat, monstrans dilectionis vim omnium amaritudinum superare molestiam, et quia fortis est ut mors dilectio. Et ut scias non in se illam, sed in Domino gloriari, neque de propria virtute, sed de Domini adiutorio praesumere fortitudinem; dicit illum inter ubera sua commoraturum, cui secura decantet: Etiamsi ambulavero in medio umbrae mortis, non timebo mala, quoniam tu mecum es.

Memini me in uno superiorum sermonum (Serm. 10, num. 1) duo sponsae ubera congratulationem definisse atque compassionem, iuxta Pauli doctrinam, dicentis: Gaudere cum gaudentibus, flere cum flentibus. Quia vero inter adversa et prospera versans, novit utrobique pericula non deesse; medium huiuscemodi uberum suorum vult habere dilectum, cuius adversus utraque continua protectione munitam nec laeta extollant, nec tristia deiiciant. Tu quoque, si sapis, imitaberis sponsae prudentiam, atque hunc myrrhae tam charum fasciculum de principali tui pectoris, nec ad horam patieris avelli; amara illa omnia quae pro te pertulit, semper in memoria retinens, et assidua meditatione revolvens, quo possis dicere et tu: Fasciculus myrrhae dilectus meus mihi, inter ubera mea commorabitur.

Et ego, fratres, ab ineunte mea conversione, pro acervo meritorum, quae mihi deesse sciebam, hunc mihi fasciculum colligare, et inter ubera mea collocare curavi, collectum ex omnibus anxietatibus et amaritudinibus Domini mei: primum videlicet, infantilium illarum necessitatum; deinde, laborum quos pertulit in praedicando, fatigationum in discurrendo, vigiliarum in orando, tentationum in ieiunando, lacrymarum in compatiendo, insidiarum in colloquendo; postremo, periculorum in falsis fratribus, conviciorum, sputorum, colaphorum, subsannationum, exprobrationum, clavorum, horumque similium, quae in salutem nostri generis silva evangelica copiosissime noscitur protulisse. Ubi sane inter tot odoriferae myrrhae huius ramusculos minime praetermittendam putavi etiam illam myrrham, qua in cruce potatus est; sed neque illam, qua unctus est in sepultura. Quarum in prima applicuit sibi meorum amaritudinem peccatorum; in secunda futuram incorruptionem mei corporis dedicavit. Memoriam abundantiae suavitatis horum eructabo, quoad vixero; in aeternum non obliviscar miserationes istas, quia in ipsis vivificatus sum.

Has olim sanctus David cum lacrymis requirebat: Veniant mihi, inquiens, miserationes tuae, et vivam. Has et alius quidam sanctorum cum gemitu memorabat, dicens: Misericordiae Domini multae. Quam multi reges et prophetae voluerunt videre, et non viderunt. Ipsi laboraverunt, et ego in labores eorum introivi; ego messui myrrham, quam illi plantaverunt; mihi hic salutaris fasciculus servatus est; nemo tollet eum a me, inter ubera mea commorabitur. Haec meditari dixi sapientiam, in his iustitiae mihi perfectionem constitui, in his plenitudinem scientiae, in his divitias salutis, in his copias meritorum. Ex his mihi interdum potus salutaris amaritudinis, ex his rursum suavis unctio consolationis. Haec me erigunt in adversis, in prosperis reprimunt, et inter laeta tristiaque vitae praesentis via regia incedenti tutum praebent utrobique ducatum, hinc inde mala imminentia propulsando. Haec mihi conciliant mundi iudicem, dum tremendum potestatibus mitem humilemque figurant; dum non solum placabilem, sed et imitabilem repraesentat eum, qui inaccessibilis est priucipatibus, terribilis apud reges terrae.

Propterea haec mihi in ore frequenter, sicut vos scitis; haec in corde semper, sicut Deus scit; haec stylo meo admodum familiaria, sicut apparet; haec mea sublimior interim philosophia, scire Iesum, et hunc crucifixum. Non requiro, sicut sponsa, ubi cubet in meridie, quem taetus amplector mea inter ubera commorantem. Non requiro ubi pascat in meridie, quem intueor Salvatorem in cruce. Illud sublimius, istud suavius; panis illud, hoc lac; hoc viscera reficit parvulorum, hoc replet ubera matrum: et ideo inter ubera mea commorabitur.

Hunc et vos, dilectissimi, tam dilectum fasciculum colligite vobis, hunc medullis inserite cordis, hoc munite aditum pectoris, ut et vobis inter ubera commoretur. Habete illum semper non retro in humeris, sed ante prae oculis, ne portantes et non odorantes, et onus premat, et odor non erigat. Mementote quia accepit eum Simeon in ulnis suis; Maria gestavit in utero, fovit in gremio, sponsa sibi inter ubera collocavit. Et, ne quid praetermittam, factum est verbum in manu Zachariae prophetae, nec non et quorumdam aliorum. Arbitror et Ioseph virum Mariae super genua frequenter illi arrisisse. Hi omnes ante se eum habuerunt, et nullus retro. Exemplo ergo sint vobis, ut et similiter faciatis. Si enim ante oculos habueritis quem portatis, pro certo videntes angustias Domini, levius vestras portabitis, ipso auxiliante Ecclesiae sponso, qui est super omnia Deus benedictus in saecula.

Amen.

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩Song.1.13 — A sachet of myrrh is my beloved to me; between my breasts he will lie.
  2. ↩Eph.2.13 — But now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
  3. ↩Song.1.13 — A sachet of myrrh is my beloved to me; between my breasts he will lie.
  4. ↩Acts.5.41 — So they went away from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they had been counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the Name.
  5. ↩Isa.9.6 — For the increase of his government and for peace there will be no end, upon the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.
  6. ↩Rom.8.18 — For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is about to be revealed to us.
  7. ↩2Cor.4.17 — For our light and momentary affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all measure,
  8. ↩Matt.11.30 — For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
  9. ↩Song.8.6 — Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm; for love is strong as death, passion is fierce as Sheol. Its flashes are flashes of fire, a flame of Yah.
  10. ↩Ps.23.4 — Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff — they comfort me.
  11. ↩Rom.12.15 — Rejoice with those who rejoice; weep with those who weep.
  12. ↩Song.1.13 — A sachet of myrrh is my beloved to me; between my breasts he will lie.
  13. ↩Matt.27.48;Mark.15.23;John.19.29 — And immediately one of them ran, took a sponge, filled it with sour wine, and put it on a reed, and gave him a drink. Mark.15.23 — They offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it. John.19.29 — A jar full of sour wine was standing there; so they filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on hyssop, and held it to his mouth.
  14. ↩John.19.39-John.19.40 — Nicodemus also came—the one who had come to him by night at first—bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred litras in weight. John.19.40 — So they took the body of Jesus and bound it in linen cloths with the spices, as is the burial custom of the Jews.
  15. ↩Ps.18.10;Ps.119.171 — He spread out the heavens and came down, with thick darkness under his feet. Ps.119.171 — My lips will pour forth praise, for You teach me Your statutes.
  16. ↩Ps.88.2;Ps.103.17 — O LORD, God of my salvation, I cry out day and night before you. Ps.103.17 — But the steadfast love of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon those who fear him, and his righteousness to children's children.
  17. ↩1Cor.2.2 — For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified.
  18. ↩Song.1.6 — Do not stare at me because I am dark, because the sun has scorched me. My mother's sons were angry with me; they made me keeper of the vineyards—but my own vineyard I have not kept.
  19. ↩Song.1.12 — While the king was at his table, my nard gave forth its fragrance.
  20. ↩Song.1.6 — Do not stare at me because I am dark, because the sun has scorched me. My mother's sons were angry with me; they made me keeper of the vineyards—but my own vineyard I have not kept.
  21. ↩Song.1.12 — While the king was at his table, my nard gave forth its fragrance.
  22. ↩1Pet.2.2 — Like newborn babies, long for the pure, unadulterated milk of the word, so that by it you may grow up into salvation.
  23. ↩Song.1.13 — A sachet of myrrh is my beloved to me; between my breasts he will lie.
  24. ↩Luke.2.25-Luke.2.35 — And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. Luke.2.26 — And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. Luke.2.27 — And he came in the Spirit into the temple; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, Luke.2.28 — and he received him into his arms and blessed God and said, Luke.2.29 — Now you are releasing your servant, Master, according to your word, in peace. Luke.2.30 — that my eyes have seen your salvation Luke.2.31 — which you have prepared in the presence of all peoples Luke.2.32 — a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel. Luke.2.33 — And his father and his mother were marveling at the things being spoken concerning him. Luke.2.34 — And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, 'Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed.' Luke.2.35 — and a sword will pierce through your own soul also, so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.
  25. ↩Eph.5.25-Eph.5.32;Rev.19.7-Rev.19.9 — Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave himself up for her. Eph.5.26 — in order that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 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. Eph.5.28 — In the same way, husbands ought to love their own wives as their own bodies; he who loves his own wife loves himself. Eph.5.29 — For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also does the church. Eph.5.30 — because we are members of his body. Eph.5.31 — For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. Eph.5.32 — This mystery is profound—and I am speaking with reference to Christ and the church. Rev.19.7 — Let us rejoice and be glad and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Rev.19.8 — And it was granted to her that she be clothed in fine linen, bright and pure—for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. Rev.19.9 — And he said to me, "Write: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb." And he said to me, "These are the true words of God."

Notes

  1. 1 ↩The feminine referent (illam, se, secura) is ambiguous between the soul/bride and the love (dilectio) itself; the translation preserves the feminine 'she' to reflect the Latin, though the antecedent is debated.
  2. 2 ↩Etiamsi ambulavero in medio umbrae mortis, non timebo mala, quoniam tu mecum es is a quotation of Psalm 23:4 (Vulgate 22:5). Final resolution deferred to scripture-reference stage.
  3. 3 ↩The rare adjective 'taetus' is translated here as 'the one I love' based on contextual sense and parallel manuscript readings, though its exact etymology remains uncertain.

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