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Chapter 51SermC.1.51

Sermo 51

Languishing from Love's Intensity

The Bride, having experienced the profound sweetness of the Bridegroom's presence, now languishes from the intensity of love in his absence, seeking comfort in flowers and fruits until his return.

Support me with flowers, surround me with apples, because I'm languishing with love.✦ Love has grown, because the incentives of love have advanced further than usual. You see indeed how great an abundance there was on this occasion — not only of seeing, but also of conversing. The vision itself appears with a more serene countenance, and the speech more pleasant, and the conversation longer and more prolonged. She was not only delighted by the conversation, but also glories in the proclamation. At this, she — refreshed by the shade of the one she had desired — is fed with fruit and given drink from a cup. For she is not to be thought thirsty because she has gone out from the wine cellar into which she recently glories at having been introduced; but truly she is thirsty, because 'whoever drinks me,' he says, 'will still thirst.'✦ After all this, with the bridegroom withdrawing in his own manner, she declares that she is languishing from love — that is, from the intensity of love. For the more welcome the presence had been that she had experienced, the more troublesome the absence she felt afterward. The removal, namely, of the thing you love is an increase of desire, and that you desire the more ardently. Dearly loved, but more grievously. So meanwhile it asks to be cherished with the scents of flowers and fruits, until the one whom it endures lingering most annoyingly may return anew. And this is the order of the discourses.

Flowers of Faith and Fruits of Works

The flowers and fruits are interpreted as beginners and the advanced, or as faith and good works, which together console the soul when contemplation is temporarily withdrawn.

Now let's try to draw out, under the Spirit's guidance as the leader of truth, the spiritual fruit that is already present in them. And if the common Church of the saints is received here as it speaks, we are designated in flowers and fruits; but also, each one converted from the world is received in the whole world. In flowers, indeed, the new and still-tender way of life of those just beginning is shown; but in fruits, the strength and maturity of those advancing — of the perfect. Surrounded by these, the mother who sojourns and bears fruit — for whom to live is Christ and to die is gain — surely bears the distress of her own delay with greater equanimity, because, according to Scripture, she is given from the fruit of her own hands, as it were from the first fruits of the Spirit, and her works praise her in the gates.✦✦✦ But if, according to the moral sense, you wish both of these to be assigned to you in one soul — namely, both flowers and fruits — understand faith as the flower, and action as the fruit. Nor, I think, will this seem unfitting to you, if you notice how, like a flower necessarily preceding the fruit, good work too must be preceded by faith. Otherwise, without faith it's impossible to please God — Paul testifying, and indeed the same one himself teaching: 'Whatever is not from faith is also sin.'✦✦ Therefore, neither fruit without a flower, nor good work without faith. But faith without works is dead, just as a flower appears to no purpose when no fruit follows it. Heap flowers around me, surround me with fruit, because I'm wasting away with love.✦ So a mind accustomed to rest draws consolation from good works rooted in sincere faith, whenever the light of contemplation is withdrawn from it, as often happens. Who, I don't say continually, but even for any length of time, while remaining in this body, gets to enjoy the light of contemplation? But whenever, as I've said, it falls away from the contemplative life, each time it takes itself back into the active life, evidently all the more ready to return to that same state shortly, as if from nearby — because these two are companions to each other and dwell together side by side; Martha is indeed a sister to Mary.✦ For even if it falls from the light of contemplation, it doesn't thereby suffer any collapse into the darkness of sin or the sloth of idleness, since it holds firmly to the light of good action. And so that you may know works are themselves light: 'Let your light shine,' he says, 'before others' — which was undoubtedly said about works, the kind of things people could see.✦

The Pastor's Consolation in Active Love

Bernard shares his own experience of finding consolation in the spiritual progress of his listeners, willingly sacrificing his own contemplative rest for the fruitful active ministry of preaching.

Surround me with flowers, heap apples before me, because I'm wasting away with love.✦ When the one loved is close at hand, love thrives; it languishes when that one is absent. This is nothing other than a kind of weariness born of love's impatient longing — the very thing that necessarily grips the soul of someone burning with love when the beloved is absent, so that the whole being waits, and however swift the coming, counts it delay. And so this love demands that the fruits of good works be heaped up for it together with the fragrances of faith — fragrances in which, while the Bridegroom tarries, it may rest a while. I'm speaking to you from my own experience, from what I've lived through myself. Whenever I've truly seen some of you make progress through my admonitions, then I confess I did not regret putting the work of speaking ahead of my own leisure and quiet. For when, for the sake of the word, after a sermon someone angry is found turned gentle, a proud person humble, a timid one strong — then the meek, the humble, the strong are each recognized to have grown in their own grace and to have become better than they were; and those who had perhaps grown lukewarm and were languishing in their spiritual pursuit, drowsy and half-asleep, seem to have been freshly filled and to have woken up at the burning utterance of the Lord; and those who, abandoning the fountain of wisdom, had dug themselves cisterns of self-will that couldn't hold water, and so, burdened with dry hearts, grumbled at every task laid on them, having in themselves no moisture of devotion — these, I say, when God has set apart for his own heritage the dew of the word and the willing rain, are proved to have blossomed forth again into the works of obedience, made willing and devoted in all things.✦✦✦ There is no reason — I tell you — for any sadness to steal into my heart, as if over the loss of delightful contemplation's pursuit, when I find myself surrounded by flowers and fruits of devotion like these. I am patiently torn away from the barren embraces of Rachel, so that the fruits of your progress may abound for me from Leah. It won't grieve me at all to have set aside my rest for the work of preaching, when I see my seed sprouting in you and, from that, the growth of the fruits of your justice increasing.1 For love, which doesn't seek its own interests, has long since easily persuaded me to set aside any of my own desires in favor of your benefit.2 To pray, to read, to write, to meditate, and if there are any other gains of spiritual study — these I have counted as losses for your sake.3

The Manifold Meanings of Scripture

Bernard defends the validity of diverse spiritual interpretations of Scripture, arguing that just as water serves many bodily needs, a single divine word can yield multiple true meanings to nourish souls.

Sustain me with flowers, surround me with apples, because I languish with love.✦ And so, having spoken this, the bride addressed the young men in the bridegroom's absence, urging them to advance in faith and in good works until he comes, perceiving that in him would be both the bridegroom's good pleasure and the daughters' salvation, and her own consolation as well. I know that I have explained this passage more fully in the book On the Love of God, and under another understanding; whether it is the better or the worse, let the reader judge, if it has pleased anyone to examine both. I will not be judged by a prudent person concerning the diversity of meanings, provided that truth defends us on both sides, and that love — which the Scriptures must serve — builds up more people by extracting more true understandings from them for its own use. Since when does this displease us in the meanings of the Scriptures, which we constantly experience in the uses of things? Into how many uses, for example, is water alone taken up for our bodies? So any single divine word will not be beside the point, if it produces various understandings to be adapted to the various needs and uses of souls.

The Return of the Bridegroom

The Bridegroom returns to embrace the languishing soul, and the Bride's use of the future tense demonstrates her profound gratitude and anticipation of further grace.

It follows: His left hand is under my head, and his right hand embraces me.✦ And besides this, I remember that the point was treated more fully in the little work I mentioned; but let us mark the order of the discourse. It's clear the Bridegroom is present again, I believe, so that by his presence he may lift up the one languishing in his absence. For how would she not grow strong in his presence, when his absence had laid her low? So she does not endure the beloved's distress: he is present, for he cannot delay when called by such great longing. And because she had learned that, while he was absent, she was faithful in works and eager for fruit, in the matter, surely, of the flowers and fruits he had commanded to be gathered for himself; he has now returned with a more generous recompense of grace at this turning. In short, with one of his arms he supports the head of the one reclining, preparing the other for embrace, so that he may cherish her in his bosom. Happy the soul that reclines on the breast of Christ and rests between the arms of the Word. His left hand is under my head, and his right hand will embrace me.✦ She doesn't say, "Embraces"; rather, "will embrace me," so that you may know she was so far from being ungrateful for the first grace that her thanksgiving anticipated the second.

The Danger of Ingratitude

The soul is warned against the spiritual devastation of ingratitude, urged instead to give thanks for every grace received, just as the Bride gave thanks immediately upon feeling the Bridegroom's left hand.

Don't be slow or halfhearted about returning grace; learn to give thanks for each gift individually.4 Consider carefully, he says, what is set before you, so that none of God's gifts may be denied the thanks they are due — not the great ones, not the ordinary ones, not the smallest ones.5 In short, we are told to gather up the scraps so they aren't lost — that is, not to forget even the smallest kindnesses.✦ Doesn't what is given to an ungrateful person simply go to waste?6 Ingratitude is the soul's enemy: it empties out our merits, scatters our virtues, and destroys the benefits we've received. Ingratitude is a scorching wind that dries up for itself the spring of devotion, the dew of mercy, and the flowing streams of grace.7 That is why, as soon as the bride sensed grace from the left hand, she gave thanks — without waiting for the fullness that is held in the right.8 For where she recalled that the left hand was already resting under her head, the right hand too followed, embracing her in the same way; but, 'It will embrace me,' she says.9

The Simple Word and Familiar Signs

Although the divine Word is utterly simple and without parts, we are permitted to use familiar human terms like 'left' and 'right' to speak of God, relying on the Holy Spirit's revelation.

But what do we think the Bridegroom means by the left hand of the Word — or the right? Surely the Word made flesh doesn't have bodily parts divided within itself, with distinct features marking off left from right? How much less, then, does that Word which is God and proceeds from God admit any variation at all — but is, in its own nature, so simple as to have no parts, so one as to have no number. For it is the wisdom of God, of which it is written: And of his wisdom there is no number. But if what is unchangeable is also incomprehensible, and for that reason beyond all telling as well — where, I ask, would you find words to worthily apply to that majesty, or fittingly express it, or properly define it? Still, however we speak, we perceive only what the Holy Spirit, revealing, enables us to perceive concerning it. We are taught by the authority of the Fathers and by the custom of the Scriptures that it is permissible, when dealing with known realities, to use familiar comparisons — but not to invent new words, rather to borrow well-known ones, so that those same comparisons may be worthily and fittingly clothed. Otherwise you'll be trying, absurdly, to teach what is unknown through what is unknown.

From Servile Fear to Loving Embrace

The left hand signifies the threat of punishment which the soul must overcome by progressing from servile fear into the hopeful love of the right hand, where it finds true peace and rest.

So because the left and the right are commonly used to signify adversity and prosperity, it seems to me this passage can be understood as meaning that the left side of the Word signifies the threat of punishment, but the right, the promise of the kingdom. But when our mind is crushed in servile fear of punishment, it must not be said to be under the head, but rather above the head: the left side. And a soul so afflicted can't say at all that his left is under my head, because its left lies under my head.10 But if, making progress, you pass from this spirit of servitude into a more worthy disposition of willing submission—insofar as you're drawn toward rewards rather than constrained by punishments, and even more if you're moved by love of the good itself—then you'll undoubtedly be able to say that his left is under my head, because you've overcome the slavish fear that belongs to the left with a better and more excellent disposition of soul, and have even drawn near to the right hand, in which all the promises are, as the Prophet says to the Lord: 'Pleasures in your right hand forever.'✦1112 And so, conceived with certain hope, it speaks with confidence: 'And his right hand will embrace me.'✦13 You're with me now, and you can see for yourself whether, having been so moved and having reached a place of such great sweetness, it's also appropriate to borrow from the psalm, so that she too may say: I will sleep and rest in peace — especially given the reason that follows: Because you, Lord, have established me alone in hope.✦ And this is indeed the case. As long as anyone is crushed by a spirit of bondage, with little hope and overwhelming fear, there's no peace or rest for them — their conscience wavering between hope and fear, and tormented all the more intensely by an exceedingly great fear, because fear carries punishment within it. And so they can't say: I will sleep and rest in peace, when they can't yet say that they've been established alone in hope.✦ But if, little by little, through the growth of grace, fear begins to fade and hope begins to grow — when at last the point is reached where love, rising up with all its strength, casts out fear as an aid to hope — won't such a soul, established alone in hope, be seen as truly at peace, able now to sleep and rest?✦

Resting in the Midst of Love

Established in the hopeful middle place between fear and security, the contemplating soul rests securely in the Bridegroom's embrace, guarded from all anxiety until he wills to rouse it.

"If you lie among the midst of the lots," she says, "the wings of a dove, silvered over."✦ I think this was said because there's a place between fear and security, as if between left and right—namely, hope in the middle—where the mind and conscience rest most sweetly, once the soft bed of love has been placed beneath them. And perhaps this is the place pointed out later in this very song, where, in the description of Solomon's litter, among other things you find: "In the midst of love she has set me, because of the daughters of Jerusalem."✦ For whoever feels he has been uniquely established in hope no longer serves in fear, but rests in love. In short, the bride rests and sleeps, of whom it is said: "I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles and the deer of the field, do not stir up or rouse the beloved until she herself wishes."✦ How great and astonishing the dignity, that he makes the contemplating soul rest in his bosom, and furthermore guards it from harassing anxieties and protects it from the restlessness of activities and the troubles of business; nor does it allow it to be roused at all except at his own will. But this point isn't something I should now undertake as if ending the discourse; rather, another should be begun from here, so that this delightful place won't be cheated of the careful treatment it deserves. Not that even then we're sufficient in ourselves to think anything of ourselves, as though from ourselves, especially in a matter so worthy, so excellent, and altogether surpassing; but our sufficiency is from God, the bridegroom of the Church, Jesus Christ our Lord, who is God blessed forever above all things. Amen.

Read the original Latin

Fulcite me floribus, stipate me malis, quia amore langueo. Crevit amor, quia incentiva amoris plura solito processerunt. Vides siquidem, quanta hac vice non videndi tantum, sed et colloquendi copia fuit. Ipsa quoque visio apparet vultu indulta sereniori, et sermo iucundior, et sermocinatio longior atque protractior. Nec solum oblectata colloquio, sed et gloriata praeconio est. Ad haec, eius quem desideraverat refrigerata est umbra, cibata fructu, potata calice. Nec enim sitibunda putanda est exisse de cella vinaria, in quam se introductam modo novissime gloriatur; imo vero sitibunda, quoniam qui bibit me, inquit, adhuc sitiet. Post ista omnia, sponso more suo secedente, illa languere amore se perhibet, id est prae amore.

Quo enim gratiorem fuerat experta praesentiam, eo postmodum absentiam molestiorem sensit. Subtractio nempe rei quam amas, augmentatio desiderii est; et quod ardentius desideras. cares aegrius. Rogat proinde ista interim odoramentis florum ac fructuum confoveri, quousque denuo revertatur, quem molestissime sustinet demorantem. Atque is ordo sermonum.

Nunc iam spiritualem fructum, qui in ipsis est, spiritu duce veritatis tentemus eruere. Et si communis Ecclesia sanctorum hic recipitur loquens, nos in floribus fructibusque designati sumus; sed et quique conversi de saeculo in toto saeculo. In floribus quidem novella et tenera adhuc incipientium conversatio demonstratur, in fructibus vero proficientium fortitudo et maturitas perfectorum. His stipata mater peregrinans et fructificans, cui vivere Christus est, et mori lucrum; profecto aequanimius fert molestiam suae dilationis, quoniam, iuxta Scripturam, datur ei de fructu manuum suarum, tanquam ex primitiis spiritus, et laudant eam in portis opera eius. Si autem secundum moralem sensum in una anima vis tibi utraque haec assignari, et flores videlicet, et fructus; fidem florem, fructum actum intellige. Nec incongrue, ut opinor, id tibi videbitur, si advertas, quomodo instar floris necessario praecedentis fructum, bonum quoque opus fide oporteat praeveniri. Alioquin sine fide impossibile est placere Deo, Paulo attestante, magis autem aeque ipso docente: Omne quod non est ex fide, etiam peccatum est. Itaque nec sine flore fructus, nec sine fide opus bonum.

Sed et fides sine operibus mortua est; sicut inutiliter quoque flos apparet, ubi non sequitur fructus. Fulcite me floribus, stipate me malis, quia amore langueo. Ergo ex bonis operibus in fide non ficta radicatis recipit consolationem mens assueta quieti, quoties sibi, ut assolet, lux contemplationis subtrahitur. Quis enim, non dico continue, sed vel aliquandiu, dum in hoc corpore manet, lumine contemplationis fruatur? At quoties, ut dixi, corruit a contemplativa, toties in activam se recipit, inde nimirum tanquam e vicino familiarius reditura in idipsum; quoniam sunt invicem contubernales hae duae, et cohabitant pariter; est quippe soror Mariae Martha. Neque enim, etsi a contemplationis lumine cadit, patitur tamen ullatenus se incidere in tenebras peccati, seu ignaviam otii, sane in luce bonae operationis se retinens. Et ut scias etiam opera lucem esse: Luceat lux vestra, inquit, coram hominibus : quod non est dubium de operibus fuisse dictum, quae homines poterant intueri.

Fulcite me floribus, stipate me malis, quia amore langueo. Cum praesto est quod amatur, viget amor; languet, cum abest. Quod non est aliud, quam taedium quoddam impatientis desiderii, quo necesse est affici mentem vehementer amantis absente quem amat, dum totus in exspectatione, quantamlibet festinationem reputat tarditatem. Et ideo ista postulat sibi accumulari bonorum operum fructus cum fidei odoramentis, in quibus moram faciente sponso interim requiescat. Loquor vobis experimentum meum quod expertus sum. Si quando sane comperi profecisse aliquos vestrum ex meis monitis, tunc non me piguit, fateor, curam praetulisse sermonis proprio otio et quieti. Cum enim, verbi gratia post sermonem iracundus quispiam reperitur mutatus in mitem, superbus in humilem, pusillanimis in fortem: porro mitis, humilis, fortis in sua quisque gratia excrevisse, et se ipso melior factus esse agnoscitur: sed et qui forte tepuerant et languebant circa spirituale studium torpentes et dormitantes, ad ignitum eloquium Domini referbuisse et evigilasse videntur; et qui deserto fonte sapientiae, foderant sibi propriae voluntatis cisternas non valentes aquas continere, proptereaque ad omne iniunctum gravati corde arido murmurabant, nullum in se habentes devotionis humorem: hi, inquam, cum de rore verbi, et pluvia voluntaria, quam segregavit. Deus haereditati suae, refloruisse probantur in opera obedientiae, facti in omnibus voluntarii et devoti; non est, dico vobis, unde subeat mentem, quasi pro intermisso studio iucundae contemplationis, tristitia, cum talibus fuero circumdatus floribus atque fructibus pietatis.

Patienter avellor ab infecundae Rachelis amplexibus, ut de Lia mihi exuberent fructus profectuum vestrorum. Minime prorsus pigebit me intermissae quietis pro cura sermonis, cum videro in vobis germinare semen meum, atque ex eo augeri incrementa frugum iustitiae vestrae. Charitas enim quae non quaerit quae sua sunt, id mihi iamdudum facile persuasit, nil scilicet desiderabilium meorum vestris praeferre utilitatibus. Orare, legere, scribere, meditari, et si quae sunt alia spiritualis studii lucra haec arbitratus sum propter vos detrimenta.

Fulcite me floribus, stipate me malis, quia amore langueo. Hoc itaque locuta est sponsa adolescentulis in sponsi absentia, monens eas in fide proficere et operibus bonis donec veniat, sentiens in eo fore et beneplacitum sponsi, et filiarum salutem, et suam ipsius consolationem. Scio me hunc locum in libro De dilectione Dei plenius explicuisse, et sub alio intellectu: potiorine an deteriori lector iudicet si cui utrumque videre placuerit. Non sane a prudente de diversitate sensuum iudicabor, dummodo veritas utrobique nobis patrocinetur; et charitas, cui Scripturas servire oportet, eo aedificet plures, quo plures ex eis in opus suum veros eruerit intellectus. Cum enim hoc displiceat in sensibus Scripturarum, quod in usibus rerum assidue experimur? In quantos, verbi causa, sola aqua nostrorum assumitur corporum usus? Ita unus quilibet divinus sermo non erit ab re, si diversos pariat intellectus, diversis animarum necessitatibus et usibus accommodandos.

Sequitur: Laeva eius sub capite meo, et dextera eius amplexabitur me. Et insuper hoc quoque in praefato opusculo memini uberius disputatum; sed signemus sermonis ordinem. Liquet denuo adesse sponsum, credo, ut sua praesentia languentem erigat. Quomodo enim non in praesentia eius convalesceret, quam absentia consternarat? Ergo non sustinet dilectae molestiam: adest, neque enim moram facere potest tantis desideriis evocatus. Et quia illam compererat, donec absens fuit, fidelem ad opera, et sollicitam ad lucra, in eo nimirum, quod flores sibi et fructus praeceperat adunari; etiam cum propensiori hac vice remuneratione gratiae est reversus. Denique uno brachiorum suorum sustentat caput iacentis, alterum ad amplexandum parans, ut sinu foveat. Felix anima quae in Christi recumbit pectore, et inter Verbi brachia requiescit.

Laeva eius sub capite meo, et dextera eius amplexabitur me. Non ait: Amplexatur; sed, amplexabitur me, ut noveris priori gratiae adeo non ingratam, ut secundam gratiarum actione praevenerit.

Disce in referendo gratiam non esse tardus aut segnis, disce ad singula dona gratias agere. Diligenter, inquit, considera quae tibi apponuntur, ut nulla videlicet Dei dona debita gratiarum actione frustrentur; non grandia, non mediocria, non pusilla. Denique iubemur colligere fragmenta ne pereant; id est, nec minima beneficia oblivisci. Nunquid non perit quod donatur ingrato. Ingratitudo inimica est animae, exinanitio meritorum, virtutum dispersio, beneficiorum perditio. Ingratitudo ventus urens, siccans sibi fontem pietatis, rorem misericordiae, fluenta gratiae. Propter hoc denique sponsa mox ut gratiam de laeva sensit, gratias egit, non exspectans plenitudinem quae in dextera est. Neque enim ubi memorata est laevam iam esse sub capite suo, etiam secuta est a dextera se similiter amplexatam; sed, amplexabitur me, inquit.

Caeterum quid putamus Verbo sponso laevam esse, sive dexteram? Num id quod dicitur hominis verbum istiusmodi corporeas partes habet in se divisas, et lineamenta distincta, ac distinguentia inter sinistram et dexteram? Quanto magis is, qui Dei et Deus est, sermo varietatem prorsus aliquam non admittit, sed est qui est, in sua nimirum natura tam simplex ut non habeat partes, tam unus ut non habeat numeros. Est enim Dei sapientia, de qua scriptum est: Et sapientiae eius non est numerus. At si quod invariabile est, id incomprehensibile, ac per hoc etiam ineffabile esse necesse est; ubi, quaeso, invenias verba, quibus illam maiestatem vel digne assignes, vel proprie proloquaris, vel competenter definias? Tamen utcunque loquamur, quod utcunque de ea Spiritu sancto revelante sentimus. Docemur auctoritate Patrum, et consuetudine Scripturarum congruentes de rebus notis licere similitudines usurpare; sed et verba non nova invenire, sed nota mutuari, quibus digne et competenter eaedem similitudines vestiantur. Alioquin ridicule ignota per ignota docere conaberis.

Ergo quia per dextrum et sinistrum adversa solent atque prospera designari: videtur mihi hoc loco intelligi posse laevam quidem Verbi, comminationem supplicii; dextram vero regni promissionem. Est autem cum mens nostra formidine poenae serviliter premitur: et tunc nequaquam sub capite, sed super caput laeva esse dicenda est; nec potest sic affecta anima omnino dicere, quia laeva eius sub capite meo. At vero si proficiens ex hoc spiritu servitutis transierit in quemdam spontanei obsequii digniorem affectum, quatenus videlicet praemiis potius provocetur quam arctetur suppliciis, magis autem si amore boni ipsius agatur; tunc indubitanter dicere poterit, quia laeva eius sub capite meo: quippe qui illum servilem metum, qui in sinistra est, meliori atque excellentiori habitudine animi superarit, et dignis desideriis etiam ipsi appropiaverit dexterae, in qua sunt omnes promissiones, dicente Propheta ad Dominum: Delectationes in dextera tua usque in finem. Unde et certa spe concepta cum fiducia loquitur: Et dextera eius amplexabitur me.

Tu iam mecum videris, an ita affectae et assecutae hunc tantae suavitatis locum, illud quoque conveniat de psalmo usurpare, ut dicat etiam ipsa: In pace in idipsum dormiam, et requiescam; praesertim cum suppetat causa quae sequitur: Quoniam tu, Domine, singulariter in spe constituisti me. Quod equidem tale est. Donec quis premitur a spiritu servitutis, parumque habet de spe, de timore plurimum; non est ei pax neque requies, fluctuante nimirum conscientia inter spem et timorem, maximeque quod a superexcellente timore abundantius crucietur: nam timor poenam habet. Et ideo non est illi dicere: In pace in idipsum dormiam et requiescam, quando necdum se singulariter in spe constitutum dicere potest. Caeterum si paulatim per incrementum gratiae coeperit deficere timor, et proficere spes; cum demum ad hoc ventum fuerit ut totis viribus exsurgens charitas in adiutorium spei foras mittat timorem: nonne eiusmodi anima singulariter in spe constituta videbitur, ac proinde etiam in pace in idipsum dormire iam et requiescere?

Si dormiatis, inquit, inter medios cleros, pennae columbae deargentatae. Quod propterea dictum puto, quoniam est locus inter timorem et securitatem, tanquam inter laevam et dexteram, media videlicet spes, in qua mens et conscientia, molli nimirum supposito charitatis stratu, suavissime requiescit. Et forte in consequentibus huius ipsius cantici hic locus fuerit designatus, ubi in descriptione ferculi Salomonis inter caetera habes: Media charitate constravit propter filias Ierusalem. Nam qui se singulariter in spe constitutum sentit, non iam in timore servit, sed requiescit in charitate. Denique requiescit et dormit sponsa, pro qua dicitur: Adiuro vos, filiae Ierusalem, per capreas cervosque camporum, ne suscitetis neque evigilare faciatis dilectam, quoadusque ipsa velit. Magna et stupenda dignatio, quod quiescere facit animam contemplantem in sinu suo, insuper et custodit ab infestantibus curis, protegitque ab inquietudinibus actionum, et molestiis negotiorum; nec patitur omnino suscitari, nisi ad ipsius utique voluntatem. At istud non in angustiis finiendi iam sermonis adoriendum est, magis autem hinc alius inchoetur, quatenus locus delectabilis debita in tractando diligentia non fraudetur. Non quod vel tunc sufficientes simus cogitare aliquid a nobis quasi ex nobis, praesertim in tam digna, tamque excellente et omnino supereminente materia; sed sufficientia nostra ex Deo est, sponso Ecclesiae Iesu Christo Domino nostro, qui est super omnia Deus benedictus in saecula.

Amen.

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩Song.2.5 — Sustain me with raisin cakes, refresh me with apples, for I am faint with love.
  2. ↩John.6.35 — Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. The one who comes to me will not hunger, and the one who believes in me will never thirst."
  3. ↩Phil.1.21 — For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.
  4. ↩Prov.31.31 — Give her the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the gates.
  5. ↩Rom.8.23 — Not only that, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.
  6. ↩Heb.11.6 — And without faith it is impossible to please God, for the one who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
  7. ↩Rom.14.23 — But the one who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not act from faith; and whatever is not from faith is sin.
  8. ↩Song.2.5 — Sustain me with raisin cakes, refresh me with apples, for I am faint with love.
  9. ↩Luke.10.38-Luke.10.42 — Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, and a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. Luke.10.39 — She had a sister called Mary, who also sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his word. Luke.10.40 — But Martha was distracted by much service. She came up and said, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me." Luke.10.41 — But the Lord answered her, 'Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things.' Luke.10.42 — Few things are needed, or only one. For Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.
  10. ↩Matt.5.16 — In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in the heavens.
  11. ↩Song.2.5 — Sustain me with raisin cakes, refresh me with apples, for I am faint with love.
  12. ↩Jer.23.29 — Is not my word like fire, declares the LORD, and like a hammer that shatters rock?
  13. ↩Jer.2.13 — For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewn out for themselves cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold the water.
  14. ↩Deut.32.2 — May my teaching drop as the rain, my speech distill as the dew, as showers upon fresh grass, and as raindrops upon tender plants.
  15. ↩Song.2.5 — Sustain me with raisin cakes, refresh me with apples, for I am faint with love.
  16. ↩Song.2.6 — His left hand is under my head, and his right hand embraces me.
  17. ↩Song.2.6 — His left hand is under my head, and his right hand embraces me.
  18. ↩John.6.12 — When they had eaten their fill, he said to his disciples, "Gather up the leftover pieces, so that nothing may be lost."
  19. ↩Ps.16.11 — You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
  20. ↩Song.2.6 — His left hand is under my head, and his right hand embraces me.
  21. ↩Ps.4.9 — In peace I will both lie down and sleep, for you, LORD, alone make me dwell in safety.
  22. ↩Ps.4.9 — In peace I will both lie down and sleep, for you, LORD, alone make me dwell in safety.
  23. ↩1John.4.18 — There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears has not been perfected in love.
  24. ↩Song.2.14 — O my dove, in the clefts of the rock, in the hiding place of the steep path, let me see your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely.
  25. ↩Song.3.10 — Its pillars he made of silver, its backrest of gold, its seat of purple; its interior was inlaid with love by the daughters of Jerusalem.
  26. ↩Song.2.7 — I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles or by the does of the field: do not stir up or awaken love until it pleases.

Notes

  1. 1 ↩frugum iustitiae vestrae rendered 'fr' (i.e., righteous fruit) rather than 'fruits of righteousness' to keep the personal force of vestrae.
  2. 2 ↩charitas rendered 'love' per default policy; the theological-virtue sense (charity) is also available.
  3. 3 ↩haec arbitratus sum propter vos detrimenta rendered 'I have counted these as losses for your sake'; the sense is that the speaker treats personal spiritual gains as set aside or sacrificed for the audience's benefit.
  4. 4 ↩The double imperative 'disce' is rendered with parallel 'learn' clauses to keep the rhetorical repetition natural in modern English.
  5. 5 ↩'Debita gratiarum actione frustrentur' is rendered 'denied the thanks they are due' to keep the personification of the gifts natural without archaism.
  6. 6 ↩The rhetorical 'nunquid non perit' is rendered as a natural modern rhetorical question; 'perit' as 'go to waste' captures the sense of loss without overstatement.
  7. 7 ↩'Fontem pietatis' rendered 'spring of devotion' rather than 'spring of piety' to avoid the thin modern sense of 'piety' and preserve the living-source metaphor.
  8. 8 ↩'Ut' with 'mox' is read as temporal ('as soon as') rather than purpose, following the difficulty note in the gloss data.
  9. 9 ↩The shift from past passive 'amplexatam' to future 'amplexabitur' is preserved to capture the movement from experience to promise; the quoted future is kept as spoken words.
  10. 10 ↩The repetition of 'sub capite / sub capite meo' plays on the Song of Songs image of the bridegroom's head and the soul's posture beneath it; 'super caput laeva' inverts the expected image to mark a degraded, fear-driven state rather than a place of honor.
  11. 11 ↩'Delectationes in dextera tua usque in finem' echoes Psalm 15:11 (Vulgate 15:11); final resolution belongs to a later stage.
  12. 12 ↩The shift from fear to love as the motive for obedience marks a key spiritual transition in the passage; 'spontanei obsequii digniorem affectum' is rendered as 'more worthy disposition of willing submission' to preserve the interior, voluntary quality.
  13. 13 ↩'Et dextera eius amplexabitur me' echoes Song of Songs 2:6 / 6:3; final resolution belongs to a later stage.

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