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← Sermones super Cantica Canticorum (Sermons on the Song of Songs)/Book 1 · Sermones super Cantica Canticorum
Chapter 69SermC.1.69

Sermo 69

Who May Say 'My Beloved Is Mine'?

Bernard asks whether the soul may appropriate the bridal Song text personally, and prays for a soul worthy of such boldness.

My beloved is mine, and I am his.✦ The earlier discourse assigned this saying to the universal Church, on account of the promises God made to it concerning its life in this age and the age to come; the question before us concerns the soul, since a single soul cannot claim for itself what the whole body dares to claim, nor appropriate that saying to itself in any way. If that is not permitted, we must therefore refer it back to the Church in such a way that it applies to no single person at all — and not only this saying, but also the others like it that speak of great things, for instance: 'I waited patiently for the Lord, and he inclined to me'; and any others the earlier discourse touched on.✦ But if anyone thinks this is permitted, I don't reject the possibility; the question is to whom — for it isn't permitted to just anyone. Certainly God's Church has its spiritual members who act in God not only faithfully but also confidently, speaking with God as with a friend, their conscience bearing witness to them of his glory. Who those are is known to God; but listen to what sort of person you ought to be, if you wish to be such. What I have said, I have said not as one who has experienced it, but as one longing to experience it. Grant me a soul that loves nothing except God, and whatever is to be loved for God's sake — one for whom to live is not only Christ but has long been Christ; one whose occupation both in effort and in rest is to keep the Lord always before its eyes; one that walks carefully with the Lord its God — I don't say with great things, but that its will is single and its power does not fail: grant me, I say, such a soul, and I don't deny that it is worthy of the Bridegroom's care, of the regard for majesty, of the favor of the One who rules, of the watchful concern of the One who guides; and if it should wish to glory, it will not be foolish — only, let the one who glories glory in the Lord.✦

The Soul's Boldness and the Bridegroom's Simplicity

One soul may dare what many dare, because the Bridegroom's simple nature beholds many as one and dwells within a well-ordered soul.

And so the same thing that many people dare to do, one person also dares to do — but for a different reason. Surely the holy multitude trusting in the holy cause just mentioned makes the holy soul a matter of twofold account. First, that in the most simple nature of the bridegroom the divinity, as it were, beholds one as many and yet many as one. It won't be abundant toward the multitude, nor rare toward the few; nor divided toward diversity, nor narrowed to one thing; nor anxious about cares, nor troubled or restless about worries. So intent on the one as not held fast by it; so intent on the many as not pulled apart. Then, that just as it is most sweet to test, so it is most rare to have tested; such is the condescension of the Word, such the benevolence of the Father of the Word toward a soul well disposed and well ordered (which indeed is itself the Father's gift and the Word's work), that the soul they have anticipated and prepared for themselves with such a blessing they also deign to honor with their own presence, and so not only come to her but make their dwelling with her.1 For it doesn't suffice to be shown, unless they also offer the abundance of themselves. What is it for the Word to come to the soul? To instruct in wisdom.

The Father's Love and the Danger of Pride

The Father moves the soul to love wisdom, but knowledge without love puffs up and love without knowledge goes astray; self-deception begins all pride.

What does it mean for the Father to come? To move the soul toward the love of wisdom, so that it can say, 'I have become a lover of his beauty.' This is what it means for the Father to love: and so the Father's coming is proven by the love poured into us. What would learning accomplish without love? It would puff you up. And what is love without learning? It would go astray. And so those went astray of whom it was said: 'I testify to them that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.'✦ It's not fitting for the bride of the Word to be foolish; moreover, the Father doesn't tolerate arrogance. For the Father loves the Son, and any height that lifts itself up against the knowledge of the Word, he is always ready to cast down and destroy — whether by unleashing zeal or by stretching it — one of these being an act of mercy, the other of judgment. Would that in me he would restrain every arrogance, rather cast it down and reduce it to nothing — not with blazing fury, but with love poured in! Would that I might learn not to be proud, but to be taught by anointing rather than by vengeance! Lord, don't rebuke me in your fury, like an angel exalting himself in heaven; and don't chastise me in your anger, like the man in paradise. Both have plotted wickedness, striving after height — the one, height of power; the other, height of knowledge. In the end, the foolish woman believed the one who promised but was deceiving: 'You will be like gods, knowing good and evil.' She had already seduced herself beforehand, this one who had persuaded that she would be like the Most High. For whoever thinks he's something, when he's nothing, deceives himself.✦

Heights Cast Down: Angel and Man

God judged the angel in fury but man in wrath, remembering mercy; those who refuse grace remain sons of wrath.

Truly both heights were cast down, but more mildly in the human case — so judging the one who makes all things by weight and measure. For when the angel was punished in fury — indeed, damned — the human being felt only anger, and not fury. For when he was angry, he remembered mercy.✦ Because of this, his offspring are children of anger, and not of fury, right up to the present day.✦ If you were not born a child of anger, there would be no need to be reborn; if you were born a child of fury, being reborn would either not have been possible or not have been of any use. Do you want to see a child of fury? If you have seen Satan falling like lightning from heaven — driven down by the sheer force of fury — and have come to know the fury of God: finally, he did not remember his mercy, because mercy will be remembered when he is angry, not when his wrath has already blazed all the way into fury.✦ Woe to the children of distrust! And those who come from Adam, born as sons of wrath, turn wrath into fury for themselves, a rod into a staff, and indeed, through diabolical stubbornness, into a hammer. In the end, they store up wrath for themselves on the day of wrath.✦ But what is wrath piled up if not fury? They've committed the sin of the devil, and by the devil's sentence they're struck down. Woe also, though more gently, to certain sons of wrath who, born in wrath, have not waited to be reborn in grace! Assuredly, dead in that in which they were also born, they'll remain sons of wrath. I would say of wrath, not of fury; because, as is most piously believed and most humanely lamented, the punishments are most mild in every respect in which those who are drawn from elsewhere are devoted.

Every Height Against the Knowledge of God

The Father is jealous for the Son; pride usurps Christ's power and wisdom, and no one may penetrate the place of the Only-Begotten.

So the devil is judged in fury, because his wickedness is found to have turned to hatred; but man's to wrath, and therefore he is seized in wrath. So every height is crushed — whatever puffs itself up, whatever rushes headlong — with the Father surely being jealous for the Son. In both respects it is an injury done to the Son: both in the power usurped against the power of God, which he himself is, and in the knowledge presumed from elsewhere than from the wisdom of God, which nonetheless he himself is. Lord, who is like you? Who except the splendor and figure of your substance? Who, except your image? Alone in your form, alone the Most High Son of the Most High did not consider it robbery to be equal to you. How is he not equal? You too are one — you yourself, and you. You sit at his right hand, not under his feet. In what way does anyone dare to penetrate the place of your Only-Begotten? Let him be thrown down. He sets up a throne for himself on high; let the seat of pestilence be overthrown. Again, who teaches a person knowledge? Is it not you, O key of David, opening whenever you wish and closing whenever you wish? And how, without a key, was entrance to the treasures of wisdom and knowledge being attempted — or rather, a forcible breaking in?

Entering by the Door and the Keys of Knowledge

Only those who enter by Christ the door receive the keys of knowledge and power; apostolic authority is bounded by the knowledge of God.

Whoever doesn't enter through the door is a thief and a robber.✦ Peter, therefore, will enter, because he received the keys. Yet not me alone: if he wishes, he'll bring me in, and he'll shut out someone else, whomever he perhaps wishes, in knowledge and power given to him from above.2 And these keys — which ones? The power to open and to close, and the discernment to exclude some and admit others. And not the treasures of the serpent, but of Christ. And so the serpent couldn't give the knowledge it didn't have, but the one who had it gave it. For neither could the serpent itself have the power it didn't receive, but the one who received it had it. Christ gave, Peter received — not puffed up about knowledge, not to be rash about power. Why? Because no one exalts themselves in either case against the knowledge of God — those who have set their desire on nothing but the knowledge of God — like the one who acted deceitfully in God's sight, so that their wickedness might be exposed to hatred. How, then — beyond the knowledge of God — can someone who calls himself an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father?✦ And let these words stand for what has come up about the zeal of God — the zeal he directs against those who transgress, both angel and man (for in both he finds depravity) — namely, how in anger and in fury he will destroy every height that exalts itself against the knowledge of God.✦

The Zeal of Mercy and Divine Indwelling

Love atones and humbles pride; when the Word comes in gentleness, the Father comes with him, and persevering grace brings divine indwelling.

Now we must return to the zeal of mercy — that is, the zeal that is not marshaled but unleashed; for the zeal that is marshaled, as we have said already, belongs to judgment, and it has terrified us enough, given the examples we have recalled of those punished so severely. For that reason I will go to a place of refuge from the face of the Lord's wrath — to that zeal of devotion, burning gently, atoning effectively. Does love not atone? And powerfully. I have read that love covers a multitude of sinners. But I say: Is it not suited, or sufficient, to cast down and humble every pride of the eyes and of the heart? And especially: for it is not puffed up, it is not inflated. If therefore the Lord Jesus deigns to come to me, or rather to dwell in me — not in a zeal of wrath, and not even in anger, but in love and in the spirit of gentleness, setting me in rivalry with God through divine emulation — for what is so Godlike as love? And yet it is God: if, I say, he comes into this state, I will know that he is not alone, but that his Father has come with him. For what is more fatherly than this? For this reason, surely, the Father of the Word is called not only that, but also the Father of mercies, because it is in his nature always to show mercy and to spare.3 If I sense that understanding has been opened to me, so that I may grasp the Scriptures, or that a word of wisdom is, as it were, welling up from within, or that mysteries are being revealed by light poured in from above, or at least that a vast expanse, like the broad lap of heaven, is opening wide for me, and richer showers of meditation are streaming down into my soul — I have no doubt that the Bridegroom is present.4 These, after all, are the Word's riches, and from his fullness we receive these things. But if, alongside this, a humble yet rich devotion — like an outpouring of inner sprinkling — flows in as well, so that the love of the truth I have come to know breeds in me a necessary hatred of vanity and contempt for it, lest either knowledge puff me up or the frequency of spiritual visits make me proud: then I truly experience fatherly treatment, and I do not doubt that the Father is present.56 But if I persevere in always responding to this dignifying grace with fitting affections and actions — as far as in me lies — and God's grace is not idle within me: then he will also make his dwelling within me, both as a nurturing Father and as an instructing Word.78

The Bride's Confidence in Mutual Love

Intimacy with the Word begets confidence; the soul that loves is loved in return and is transformed into the image of the God it beholds.

How great, do you think, the grace of intimacy arises from this dwelling between the soul and the Word, and how great a confidence follows from that intimacy? There's no reason, I think, why such a soul should now hesitate to say, 'My beloved is mine'; because she feels herself to love him and to love him fervently, she doesn't doubt that she's also loved fervently in return, and she recognizes without uncertainty all these things in him — from her singular intention, her anxious care, her work, her diligence, and her zeal, with which she watches unceasingly and ardently how she may please God — remembering his promise: 'With the measure you measure, it will be measured back to you,' except that the prudent bride is more cautious about drawing the return of grace to herself, knowing that she's rather been anticipated by her beloved.✦ That's why she prefers his work: 'My beloved is mine, and I am his.' Therefore she recognizes from her own gifts that are with God, and she doesn't doubt that she who loves is loved. So it is. The love of God begets the love of the soul, and his going-before intention makes the soul intent, and his solicitude makes it solicitous. I don't know by what closeness of nature it is that once the soul can behold the glory of God with the face unveiled, it must soon be conformed to him and transformed into the same image. Therefore, whatever kind of person you've prepared yourself to be before God, that is the kind of God who must appear to you.

Loving, Watching, and Being Seen by God

With the holy one you will be holy; God loves those who love him and watches over those who watch for him, until the soul sees only as it is seen.

With the holy one you will be holy, and with the innocent person you will be innocent.✦ Why not also be a lover with the lover, free with the free one, single-minded with the single-minded, and devoted with the devoted?9 In short, he says: I love those who love me, and those who watch for me early will find me.✦ You see how he makes you assured not only about his love, if indeed you love him, but also about the care he bears for you, if he finds you caring for him. Are you watching? He too is watching. Rise up in the night, at the beginning of your watches; hurry, even if ever so much, to anticipate the watches themselves; you will find him, you will not forestall him. In such a matter, you rashly grant yourself either something sooner, or more; yet he loves more, and sooner. If this soul knows this — indeed, because it knows — are you amazed that that majesty, as though caring for nothing else, is said to direct its attention to itself alone, to which the soul herself, having set aside all cares, guards herself entirely with devotion? The sermon draws to a close; but I say one thing to the spiritual among you — marvelous, yet true: a soul that sees God sees no differently than if it alone were seen by God.

The Bridegroom Embraces the Seeking Soul

The Lord meets and embraces the soul that seeks him, showing himself as her bridegroom, God above all, blessed forever.

That confidence, then, says that he directs himself to you, and you to him, seeing nothing but himself and you. You are good, Lord, to the soul that seeks you! You meet her, you embrace her, you show yourself as her bridegroom — you who are the Lord, or rather, you who are God above all things, blessed forever.10 Amen.

Read the original Latin

Dilectus meus mihi, et ego illi. Hanc vocem universali Ecclesiae sermo superior assignavit, propter factas sibi a Deo promissiones vitae eius, quae nunc est, pariter et futurae, de anima proposita quaestio est; quia non potest sibi arrogare una, quod universitas audeat, nec aliquo modo ad se trahere illam. Si non licet, referamus proinde oportet ita ad Ecclesiam, ut nullatenus ad personam; nec modo hanc, sed et reliquas voces similes huic, loquentes grandia, verbi gratia: Exspectans exspectavi Dominum, et intendit mihi; et si quas alias sermo superior perstrinxit. Quod si quis licere putat, ego non abnuo; sed interest, cui: non enim cuicunque. Prorsus habet Ecclesia Dei spirituales suos, qui non modo fideliter, sed et fiducialiter agant in eo, cum Deo quasi cum amico loquentes, testimonium illis perhibente conscientia gloriae eius. Quinam illi sint, id quidem penes Deum; tu vero audi, qualem te esse oporteat, si talis vis esse. Quod tamen dixerim, non quasi expertus, sed quasi experiri cupiens. Da mihi animam nihil amantem praeter Deum, et quod propter Deum amandum est; cui vivere Christus non tantum sit, sed et diu iam fuerit; cui studii et otii sit providere Dominum in conspectu suo semper; cui sollicite ambulare cum Domino Deo suo, non dico magna, sed una voluntas sit et facultas non desit: da, inquam, talem animam, et ego non nego dignam sponsi cura, maiestatis respectu, dominantis favore, sollicitudine gubernantis: et si voluerit gloriari, non erit insipiens; tantum ut qui gloriatur, in Domino glorietur.

Ita in quo multi audent, audet et unus, sed alia ratione.

Nempe sanctam multitudinem causae supradictae fidentem faciunt, sanctam animam duplex quaedam ratio. Primo quidem quod habeat in natura simplicissima sponsi divinitas quasi unum respicere multos, et quasi multos unum. Nec ad multitudinem multus erit, nec ad paucitatem rarus; nec ad diversitatem divisus, nec restrictus ad unum; nec anxius ad curas, nec perturbatus seu turbulentus ad sollicitudines. Sic sane uni intentus, ut non detentus; sic pluribus, ut non distentus. Deinde, quod ut probare suavissimum, ita rarissimum probasse est; tanta est dignatio Verbi, tanta benevolentia Patris Verbi erga bene affectam et bene compositam animam (quod quidem ipsum Patris munus, et Verbi opus est), ut quam sua tali benedictione praevenerint et praeparaverint sibi, sua quoque dignentur praesentia, et ita, ut non modo ad eam veniant, sed etiam mansionem apud eam faciant. Non enim sufficit exhiberi, nisi et copiam sui praebeant. Quid est venire ad animam Verbum? Erudire in sapientia.

Quid est Patrem venire? Afficere ad amorem sapientiae, ut dicere possit, quia amatrix facta sum formae illius. Patris diligere est: et ideo Patris adventus ex infusa dilectione probatur. Quid faceret eruditio absque dilectione? Inflaret. Quid, absque eruditione dilectio? Erraret. Denique errabant, de quibus dicebatur: Testimonium illis perhibeo quod zelum Dei habent, sed non secundum scientiam.

Non decet sponsam Verbi esse stultam: porro elatam Pater non sustinet. Pater enim diligit Filium, et omnem altitudinem extollentem se adversus scientiam Verbi, semper in promptu habet deiicere atque destruere, sive immittendo zelum, sive intendendo: quorum alterum misericordiae, alterum iudicii est. Utinam in me omnem extollentiam comprimat, imo deiiciat, et ad nihilum redigat, non accensus furor, sed infusus amor! Utinam discam non superbire, sed unctione potius, quam ultione magistra! Domine, ne in furore tuo arguas me, sicut angelum extollentem se in coelo: neque in ira tua corripias me, sicut hominem in paradiso. Ambo iniquitatem meditati sunt, altitudinem affectantes; ille, potentiae; iste, scientiae. Denique credidit insipiens mulier pollicenti, sed seducenti: Eritis sicut dii, scientes bonum et malum. Iam sese ante seduxerat, cui persuaserat similem fore Altissimo?

Nam qui se putat aliquid esse, cum nihil sit, ipse se seducit.

Verum utraque altitudo deiecta est, sed in homine mitius, iudicante ita illo qui omnia facit in pondere et mensura. Nam angelo in furore punito, imo damnato, homo iram tantum sensit, et non furorem. Nempe cum iratus fuit, misericordiae recordatus est. Propter hoc semen eius filii irae, et non furoris, usque in hodiernum diem. Si non nascerer filius irae, non opus esset renasci; si furoris filius nascerer, aut non contigisset, aut non profuisset renasci. Vis videre furoris filium? Si vidisti Satanam tanquam fulgur cadentem de coelo, quod est in impetu furoris praecipitatum; et cognovisti de furore Dei, Denique non est recordatus misericordiae suae; quia cum iratus fuerit, misericordiae recordabitur, non cum iam usque ad furorem exarserit. Vae filiis diffidentiae!

his quoque qui ex Adam sunt, qui nati irae filii, ipsi sibi iram in furorem, virgam in baculum, imo in malleum diabolica obstinatione convertunt. Denique thesaurizant sibi iram in die irae. Ira autem accumulata quid nisi furor? Peccaverunt peccatum diaboli, et diaboli sententia percelluntur. Vae etiam, quamvis mitius, quibusdam filiis irae, qui nati in ira, non exspectaverunt renasci in gratia! Nempe mortui in quo et nati, irae filii permanebunt. Irae dixerim, non furoris; quia ut piissime creditur, et humanissime gemitur, mitissimae sunt poenae totum quo addicti sunt aliunde trabentium.

Ergo in furore diabolus iudicatus est, quia inventa est iniquitas eius ad odium; hominis autem ad iram, et ideo in ira corripitur. Ita omnis altitudo contrita est, et quae inflat, et quae praecipitat, Patre nimirum zelante pro Filio. Utrobique siquidem iniuria Filii est, et de usurpata potentia adversus virtutem Dei, quae ipse est; et de praesumpta scientia aliunde quam a sapientia Dei, quae nihilominus ipse est. Domine, quis similis tibi? Quis nisi splendor et figura substantiae tuae? quis, nisi imago tua? Solus in forma tua, solus non rapinam arbitratus est esse se aequalem tibi altissimus Altissimi Filius. Quomodo non aequalis?

Etiam unum estis ipse et tu. Sedes illi a dextris tuis, non sub pedibus. Quo pacto audet quis pervadere locum Unigeniti tui? praecipitetur. Ponit sibi sedem in excelso; subvertatur cathedra pestilentiae. Item quis docet hominem scientiam? Nonne tu, o clavis David, aperiens cui vis, et cui vis claudens? Et quomodo sine clave ad thesauros sapientiae et scientiae introitus, imo irruptio tentabatur?

Qui non intrat per ostium, ille fur est et latro. Petrus ergo intrabit, qui claves accepit. Non tamen solus: nam et me, si voluerit, introducet, aliumque excludet quem forte voluerit, in scientia et potestate sibi data desuper.

Et hae claves quae? Potestas aperiendi, et claudendi, atque inter excludendos et admittendos discretio. Et non in serpente thesauri, sed in Christo. Et ideo non potuit dare scientiam serpens, quam non habuit; sed qui habuit, dedit. Nec enim ipse potuit habere potestatem, quam non accepit; sed qui accepit, habuit. Dedit Christus, accepit Petrus, nec inflatus de scientia, nec praecipitandus de potentia. Quare? Quia in neutra extollit se adversus scientiam Dei, qui nihil horum praeter Dei scientiam affectavit, sicut ille qui dolose egit in conspectu eius, ut inveniatur iniquitas eius ad odium.

Quomodo denique praeter scientiam Dei, qui se scribit apostolum Iesu Christi secundum praescientiam Dei Patris? Et haec dicta sint pro eo quod incidit de zelo Dei, quem intendit in praevaricantes angelum hominemque (nam in ambobus reperit pravitatem); qualiter videlicet in ira et in furore suo destruxerit omnem altitudinem, extollentem se adversus scientiam Dei.

Nunc iam recurrendum ad zelum misericordiae, id est qui non intenditur, sed qui immittitur; quoniam qui intenditur, ut iam diximus, iudicii est, et satis nos terruit ex memoratis exemplis tam graviter punitorum. Propterea ibo ego mihi ad locum refugii a facie furoris Domini, ad illum utique pietatis zelum suaviter ardentem, efficaciter expiantem. Nunquid non expiat charitas? Et potenter. Legi quod operiat multitudinem peccatorum. Sed dico: Nunquid non idonea est seu sufficiens ad deiiciendam, humiliandamque omnem extollentiam oculorum et cordis? Et maxime: nam non extollitur, non inflatur. Si ergo Dominus Iesus dignetur venire ad me, vel potius in me, non in zelo furoris, et ne in ira quidem, sed in charitate et spiritu mansuetudinis, aemulans me Dei aemulatione: quid enim ita Dei, ut charitas?

Nempe et Deus est: si, inquam, in ista venerit, in hoc cognoscam, quod non sit solus, sed venerit etiam Pater suus cum eo. Nam quid aeque paternum? Propter hoc nempe, non Pater Verbi tantum, sed et Pater misericordiarum est appellatus, quod innatum habeat misereri semper et parcere. Si sensero aperiri mihi sensum, ut intelligam Scripturas, aut sermonem sapientiae quasi ebullire ex intimis, aut infuso lumine desuper revelari mysteria, aut certe expandi mihi quasi quoddam largissimum coeli gremium; et uberiores desursum influere animo meditationum imbres; non ambigo sponsum adesse. Verbi siquidem hae copiae sunt, et de plenitudine eius ista accipimus. Quod si se pariter infuderit humilis quaedam, sed pinguis intimae aspersionis devotio, ut amor agnitae veritatis necessarium quoddam odium vanitatis in me generet et contemptum, ne forte aut scientia inflet, aut frequentia visitationum extollat me: tunc prorsus paterne sentio agi mecum, et Patrem adesse non dubito. Si autem perseveravero huic dignationi dignis semper, quod in me est, affectibus et actibus respondere, et gratia Dei apud me vacua non fuerit: etiam mansionem apud me faciet tam Pater enutriens, quam Verbum erudiens.

Quanta putas ex hac mansione inter animam et Verbum familiaritatis gratia oriatur, quanta de familiaritate sequatur fiducia? Non est, ut opinor, quod iam talis anima dicere vereatur: Dilectus meus mihi; quae ex eo quod se diligere, et vehementer diligere sentit, etiam diligi nihilominus vehementer non ambigit, ac de sua singulari intentione sollicitudine, cura, opera diligentia, studioque, quo incessanter et ardenter invigilat, quemadmodum placeat Deo aeque haec omnia in ipso indubitanter agnoscit, recordans promissionis eius: In qua mensura mensi fueritis, remetietur vobis; nisi quod redhibitionem gratiae prudens sponsa ad suam magis cauta est trahere partem, sciens se potius praeventam a dilecto. Inde est quod illius operam praefert: Dilectus, inquiens, meus mihi, et ego illi. Ergo ex propriis quae sunt penes Deum agnoscit; nec dubitat se amari quae amat. Ita est. Amor Dei amorem animae parit, et illius praecurrens intentio intentam animam facit, sollicitudoque sollicitam. Nescio enim qua vicinitate naturae, cum semel revelata facie gloriam Dei speculari anima poterit, mox illi se conformari necesse est, atque in eamdem imaginem transformari. Igitur qualem te paraveris Deo, talis oportet appareat tibi Deus.

Cum sancto sanctus erit, et cum viro innocente innocens erit. Quidni aeque et cum amante amans, et cum vacante vacans, et cum intento intentus, et sollicitus cum sollicito?

Denique ait: Ego diligentes me diligo, et qui mane vigilaverint ad me, invenient me. Vides quomodo non solum de amore suo certum te reddat, si quidem tu ames illum: sed etiam de sua sollicitudine, quam pro te gerit, si te senserit sollicitum sui. Vigilas tu? vigilat et ipse. Consurge in nocte in principio vigiliarum tuarum, accelera quantumvis etiam ipsas anticipare vigilias; invenies eum, non praevenies. Temere in tali negotio vel prius aliquid tribuis tibi, vel plus; et magis amat, et ante. Si haec anima scit, imo quia scit, miraris quod illam maiestatem, quasi caetera non curantem, soli sibi intendere glorietur, cui soli ipsa, postpositis curis omnibus, tota se devotione custodit? Sermo finem desiderat; sed unum dico spiritualibus qui in vobis sunt, mirum quidem, sed verum: animam Deum videntem haud secus videre, quam si sola videatur a Deo.

Ea ergo fiducia dicit illum intendere sibi, seque illi, nihil praeter se et ipsum videns. Bonus es, Domine, animae quaerenti te! occurris, amplecteris, sponsum te exhibes, qui Dominus es, imo qui es super omnia Deus benedictus in saecula. Amen.

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩Song.2.16 — My beloved is mine, and I am his — the one who grazes among the lilies.
  2. ↩Ps.40.1 — For the choirmaster. Of David. A Psalm.
  3. ↩Jer.9.23-Jer.9.24;1Cor.1.31 — Thus says the LORD: Let not the wise boast in their wisdom, let not the strong boast in their strength, let not the wealthy boast in their riches. But let the one who boasts boast in this: understanding and knowing me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight, declares the LORD. Jer.9.24 — Behold, days are coming — declares the LORD — and I will punish all who are circumcised only in the flesh. 1Cor.1.31 — so that, as it is written, 'Let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.'
  4. ↩Rom.10.2 — For I testify that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.
  5. ↩Gal.6.3 — For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.
  6. ↩Ps.77.9 — Has God utterly ceased to be gracious? Has his compassion come to an end? Has he spoken once and for all to generation after generation?
  7. ↩Eph.2.3 — Among them we too all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the flesh and the thoughts, and we were by nature children of wrath, just like the rest.
  8. ↩Luke.10.18 — He said to them, "I watched Satan fall from heaven like lightning."
  9. ↩Rom.2.5 — But because of your hard and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath and revelation of God's righteous judgment.
  10. ↩John.10.1 — Truly, truly I say to you: whoever does not enter the sheepfold through the door but climbs in by another way — that person is a thief and a robber.
  11. ↩Gal.1.1;Gal.1.15;1Pet.1.2 — Paul, an apostle—not from men nor through a man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead— Gal.1.15 — But when God, who had set me apart from my mother's womb and called me through his grace, was pleased 1Pet.1.2 — according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: grace to you and peace be multiplied.
  12. ↩2Cor.10.5 — We destroy arguments and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.
  13. ↩Luke.6.38 — Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, overflowing, they will put into your lap. For with the measure you measure, it will be measured back to you.
  14. ↩Lev.19.2;1Pet.1.15-1Pet.1.16 — Speak to the whole congregation of the people of Israel, and say to them: You shall be holy, for I, the LORD your God, am holy. 1Pet.1.15 — but as the one who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct; 1Pet.1.16 — For it is written, 'Be holy, because I am holy.'
  15. ↩Prov.8.17 — I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me.

Notes

  1. 1 ↩The antecedent of 'quam' and 'eam' is the soul (animam); 'sua ... praesentia' refers to the presence of the Father and/or the Word. The trinitarian reference is kept ambiguous as in the Latin.
  2. 2 ↩The subject of 'voluerit', 'introducet', and 'excludet' is ambiguous: it could be Peter (who received the keys) or Christ (who grants the power). The sense is that the one holding the keys, by the authority given from above, admits some and excludes others.
  3. 3 ↩Pater misericordiarum is a biblical title (cf. 2 Cor 1:3); rendered 'Father of mercies' to preserve the Scriptural resonance while keeping it readable.
  4. 4 ↩Sponsum ('Bridegroom') refers to Christ in the bridle mystical framework of the Song of Songs commentary. Rendered as 'Bridegroom' to preserve the nuptial mysticism of the source.
  5. 5 ↩Intimae aspersionis devotio ('devotion of inner sprinkling') is a dense mystical image; rendered to preserve the tactile, grace-as-outpouring sense of the Latin.
  6. 6 ↩Scientia inflet ('knowledge puff me up') echoes 1 Cor 8:1 (scientia inflat); rendered 'puff me up' to capture the colloquial yet serious warning against intellectual pride.
  7. 7 ↩Mansionem ... faciet ('make his dwelling') evokes John 14:23 ('mansionem apud eum faciemus'); rendered 'make his dwelling' to preserve the indwelling resonance.
  8. 8 ↩Dignationi dignis ... respondere ('responding to this dignifying grace with fitting affections') captures the Latin play on dignatio/dignis; rendered to convey the sense of grace that elevates and the fitting response it calls for.
  9. 9 ↩The repeated noun‑adjective pairs (amante amans, vacante vacans, intento intentus, sollicitus sollicito) express a deep, reciprocal sharing of spiritual posture with Christ; 'sollicitus' here carries the sense of devout care and anxious attentiveness rather than mere worry.
  10. 10 ↩imo is treated as a variant of immo ('nay rather / or rather'), intensifying the shift from 'Lord' to 'God above all things'.

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