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Chapter 75SermC.1.75

Sermo 75

The Bridegroom's Concealed Return

The bride seeks her beloved through the night, and though he delays his return, this concealment is not rejection but a means to deepen longing and test love.

On my bed I sought through the nights the one my soul loves. The bridegroom didn't return to the voice and vow of the one calling him back. Why? So that longing may grow, so that affection may be tested, so that the work of love may be exercised. It's concealment, then, not rejection.1 But it remains for him to be sought, if perhaps the one who was called but didn't come might be found—just as the Lord says: "Everyone who seeks, finds."✦ Furthermore, the word calling him back is this: "Return; be like, my beloved, to a gazelle or a young stag." When he didn't return at that voice—certainly for the reasons given—she, made more desirous by the very things she loves, soon gave herself entirely to seeking him with all her eagerness.

The Frustrated Search Through the City

The bride rises from her bed and searches the city streets and alleys without finding her beloved, her burning love undeterred by shame, fear, or weariness, yet met only with prolonged frustration.

And at first she indeed looks for him in her bed, but she doesn't find him at all. She gets up from there, circles the city, goes and returns through the streets and alleys, and she doesn't meet him, nor does he appear. She asks anyone she happens to meet, and nothing certain is reported back. Nor is this search, and this frustration, a matter of a single street or a single night, when she says this, because she has sought him through the nights.2 What kind of longing and burning love is this, that rising in the night she isn't ashamed to go out in public, that she runs through the city, that she asks openly and everywhere about her beloved, and that she can't be turned away by any reason from tracking his paths, can't be hindered by any difficulty, isn't held back by the love of timely rest, isn't stopped by a bride's modesty, or even by fear of the night? And yet through all of this, her longing is still frustrated. Ask yourself what this stubborn, drawn-out disappointment means: it's the nurse of weariness, the fuel of suspicions, the torch of impatience, the stepmother of love, the mother of despair. If this is still a pretense, it's too cruel.

The Spiritual Bridegroom Among Us

The preacher turns from carnal interpretations to seek a spiritual sense of Scripture, presenting Christ as the true bridegroom who is truly present yet unrecognized by spiritual souls.

Let's say that for now something has been concealed piously and to good purpose, as long as the matter still concerned only the call to come, or the call to return. But now that he is being sought — and sought in this way — what further use can concealment serve? If the question concerns fleshly bridegrooms and shameful loves, it seems the literal sense has preluded, as it were; and if such things can happen among them, that's no concern of mine — let them see to it themselves. But if it is for souls seeking the Lord that I must answer and satisfy them, to the extent my small ability allows, in their minds and affections, then something vital must indeed be drawn out of holy Scripture — Scripture in which they trust they have life — something more spiritual than what feeds only the literal sense, so that the poor may eat and be satisfied, and their hearts may come alive.✦ And what greater life is there for hearts than my Lord Jesus Christ, of the one who lived in him it was said: 'When Christ your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory'?✦ Let him himself then come to our midst, so that it may truly be said of us: 'He stands among you, the one you do not know.'✦ Although I do not know how the Spirit, the spiritual bridegroom, is not recognized by spiritual ones — yet they have advanced so far in the Spirit that they can say with the prophet: 'The Spirit of Christ the Lord goes before our face'; and with the Apostle: 'Even though we once knew Christ according to the flesh, now we no longer know him that way.'✦ Isn't this the one the bride was seeking? He truly is the bridegroom, and loving, and lovable. He, I say, is truly the bridegroom: just as his flesh is truly food, and his blood is truly drink, and the whole that comes from him is truly real, when he himself is nothing other than Truth itself.3

Three Reasons Seekers Go Unfound

Though Scripture promises that seekers will find, three common failures frustrate the search: seeking at the wrong time, in the wrong way, or in the wrong place.

But as for this bridegroom, what is it that isn't found when sought, when he is searched for so eagerly and actively—now in the bedchamber, now in the city, or even in the streets and alleys—especially when he himself says, "Seek, and you will find," and "Whoever seeks, finds"?✦✦ Let the prophet also speak to him: "You are good, Lord, to the soul that seeks you." And likewise holy Isaiah: "Seek the Lord while he can be found."✦✦ How then will the Scriptures be fulfilled? For the one brought in here as a seeker is not one of those to whom he himself said, "You will seek me and not find me."✦ But notice there are three reasons that commonly come up and tend to leave seekers frustrated: either they don't seek at the right time, or not in the right way, or not in the right place. For if every time is suitable for seeking, why then does the prophet say, as I already mentioned, "Seek the Lord while he can be found"?✦ There will undoubtedly come a time when he cannot be found; and so he adds that he should be called upon while he is near, because the time is coming when he will no longer be near.✦ From whom, then, will he not be sought at that time?

The Coming Night When Seeking Ends

A time will come when the Lord can no longer be found, when every knee bows in judgment and the door is shut to those who delayed, making the present moment urgent.

Every knee will bow to me, he says, and so forth.✦ And yet he will not be found by the wicked, whom the avenging angels will hold back, and they will carry them away so they do not see the glory of God.✦ The foolish virgins will cry out in vain, and the door is now completely closed to them.✦ Let them take these words to heart: You will seek me and you will not find me.✦

The Acceptable Time for Seeking

Now is the acceptable time and day of salvation, when God is already present before we call and works out salvation in the midst of the earth.

And so, the acceptable time is now, the days of salvation are now; it's clearly a time for seeking and calling out, since God is generally felt to be present even before he's called upon. Hear, then, what he promises. Before you call upon me, I will say, 'Here I am.' The kindness and ready favor of this present time haven't escaped the one who speaks in the psalm: The Lord has heard the desire of the poor; your ear has heard the preparation of their hearts. And so, if God is sought through good works, then while we have time, let's do good to everyone — especially because the Lord openly announces that a night is coming when no one can work. Will you find any other time in the ages to come for seeking God and doing what is good, besides this time God has set for you, in which he might remember you? And so, these are days of salvation, because in them God himself, our King before all ages, has worked out salvation in the midst of the earth.

No Mercy Beyond the Earth

Christ's blood was poured out on earth to reconcile heaven and earth, but it does not descend to the dead; the time for mercy is now, not among everlasting flames.

Go, then, and look for salvation in the midst of Gehenna—the salvation that has already been brought about in the midst of the earth. What chance of obtaining pardon do you imagine you'll have among the everlasting flames, when the time for mercy has already passed? No sacrifice for sins is left for you, dead in your sins. The Son of God is not crucified again; he died once, and now he is dead no more. The blood that was poured out over the earth does not descend to the dead. All the sinners of the earth will drink; there is nothing in it that demons can claim for themselves to quench their own fires, and likewise no men are allies of demons. Once he descended there—not his blood, but his soul—and this was the portion of those who were in prison: that single visitation, accomplished then through the presence of his soul, while his body hung lifeless over the earth. Blood watered the parched earth, poured into the earth and made it drunk; blood reconciled what is on earth and what is in heaven, but not also what is among the dead—except that once, as I said, his soul ran forth to that place and accomplished a partial redemption, so that the works of love might not be void of any significance; but beyond this it will add no more.

Seeking in the Right Place

The bride seeks her beloved in a little bed, but the preacher asks whether Christ is to be found in weakness or in glory, reflecting on the manger, the tomb, and the virgin womb as places of encounter.

So now is the acceptable time, the right time to seek — and clearly, whoever seeks finds, provided, however, that one seeks where and as one ought. And this is the one thing that can keep the bridegroom from being found by those who seek him: when they do not seek him at the right time. But that same cause does not keep the bride from being found — the one who calls upon him and seeks him at the right time. But she does not seek him in a lukewarm, careless, or perfunctory way — no, she seeks with a burning heart, utterly tireless, clearly as is fitting. It remains for us to look at the third point—lest, namely, he may be seeking where it isn't fitting to seek. On my bed I have sought the one my soul loves.✦ Was he perhaps not to be sought in a little bed, but in a bed—since the world is too narrow for the one for whom it was made?4 But I don't recoil from the little bed, for I have known the little one. The little one, in short, was born for us. Rejoice, you dwelling of Zion, and praise, because great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.✦ Yet this same Lord is great in Zion; with us he is a little one, with us he was found weak—from one side he lies as one dead, and from the other he lies in the little bed.5 Is not the little bed a tomb?

The Bed of Weakness Belongs to the Bride

The little bed is the bride's own because Christ's weakness, mortality, and burial are taken from human nature, yet now all things are new and the Son of Man has ascended to where he was before.

Isn't the little bed really a manger?✦ Isn't the little bed the Virgin's womb?✦ The womb of the great Father isn't a little bed, but a great bed — the one of which it is said to the Son: 'From the womb, before the morning star, I begot you.'✦ And yet perhaps that womb shouldn't even properly be reckoned a bed, since it is the dwelling place of the One who rules rather than of one who lies in weakness. For remaining in the Father, he rules all things with the Father. In short, undoubting faith holds that the Son does not lie prostrate but sits at the right hand of the Father; and he himself declares that heaven is his throne for himself, not a bed — so that you may know that in his own realm, that is, in the heights above, he holds no marks of weakness but the signs of power.✦ Rightly, then, the bride, as she lays out the bed, calls it her own, because whatever of God's is weak is clearly not present to it from its own resources, but from ours. From us he took on what he endured for us: to be born, to be nursed, to die, to be buried. Mine is the mortality of the one born, mine the weakness of the infant, mine the last breath of the crucified, mine the sleep of the buried. The former things have passed away, and see—all things are new.✦ In my bed, through the nights, I searched for the one my soul loves.✦ What? You were searching for him in your domain, when he had already received himself back into his own. Had you not seen the Son of Man ascending to where he was before?✦✦

Why the Tomb Is Empty

Christ has risen and is no longer in the bed or tomb; he sits above the cherubim in power, either judging or helping, so seeking him in the place of death is futile.

Now he has traded heaven for a tomb and a stable, and yet you still look for him in your bed? He has risen; he is not here. Why do you look for the mighty one in a bed, the great one, glorified in a stable? He has entered into the powers of the Lord; he has clothed himself with beauty and strength, and now he sits above the cherubim, who once lay beneath the stone. From this point on he no longer lies there, but sits; and yet you prepare help for him as though he were lying down? Or, so that the truth may be more complete, either he sits as judge, or he stands as a helper.6

The Women Who Came to Anoint

The preacher addresses the women at the tomb, asking whom they seek and inviting them to be anointed by the risen Christ rather than to anoint one who is free among the dead.

So, good women — tell me, who are you keeping watch for? Who are you getting spices and ointments ready for? If you knew how great he is — and how free this dead man is among the dead, the one you keep going out to anoint — you might rather have sought to be anointed by him. Isn't this the one God anointed with the oil of gladness before his companions?7 Blessed will you be if you can return glorying and say that from his fullness we too have received.8 And so it has truly come about. For in truth, those who had come to be anointed return as ones anointed.9 How could those anointed by so joyful a message — the news of a new and fragrant resurrection — not return as ones anointed?

The Beautiful Feet of the Messengers

The evangelists announce the resurrection and run in the fragrance of Christ's ointments; from that point the bridegroom is sought in vain on the bed, for the Church no longer knows him according to the flesh.

How beautiful are the feet of those who announce peace, who announce good news!✦ Sent by the angel, the evangelists do their work; and made apostles of the apostles, as they hasten to announce the mercy of the Lord at dawn, they say: We run in the fragrance of your ointments.✦ From then on, therefore, and from that point forward, the Bridegroom is sought in vain on the bed, because even though the Church had known him according to the flesh, that is, according to the weakness of the flesh, she now no longer knows him. In the end, he is sought afterward by Peter and John, repeatedly in the tomb, but not found at all.✦ See for yourself whether each of these will then be able to say fittingly and appropriately: On my bed I sought the one whom my soul loves; I sought him, and I did not find him.✦ Surely, as the flesh goes to the Father, though it was not from the Father, it first laid aside all its weakness through the glory of the resurrection, girded itself with power, and put on light as a garment: in what glory and adornment, surely, it was fitting for it to be presented to the Father's sight.

Love of the Soul, Sought Through the Nights

The bride loves with her soul, not with carnal desire, and seeks through the nights because ignorance and hiddenness belong to night, while day reveals what was sought in darkness.

Beautifully, then, the bride says what she does — not the one I love, but the one my soul loves — because that love by which the soul loves something spiritually, for God's sake, for example, or for an angel or another soul, truly and properly belongs to the soul alone.✦ But loving justice, truth, piety, wisdom, and other virtues of this kind is also like this. For when the soul loves something according to the flesh — or rather, desires it — for example, food, clothing, power, and other things of that sort, whether physical or earthly, it should be called love of the flesh rather than love of the soul. And this is because the bride, less commonly but no less properly, says that her soul loves the bridegroom — thereby showing that the bridegroom is spirit, and that he is loved by her not with a carnal love but with a spiritual one. And it is well said that she sought him through the nights. For if, following Paul, those who sleep sleep by night, and those who are drunk are drunk by night, then — not absurdly, I think — it can be said that those who are ignorant are ignorant by night, and that those who seek, seek by night.✦ For who would seek what they already have openly? Furthermore, day makes openly what night hides, so that in the day you may find what you had sought in the night. So it is night as long as the bridegroom is being sought, because if it were day, he would be removed from our midst and would scarcely be sought at all. And enough has been said about this — unless perhaps this great number of nights still points to something more to be sought, because he used the plural 'nights' and not the singular 'night.'

The Many Nights of the World

The world is full of nights—Jewish faithlessness, pagan ignorance, heresy, and carnal living—and in these darknesses the bridegroom cannot be found, for light has no fellowship with darkness.

And it seems to me that, if you don't have a better one, some such reason can be given. This world has its nights, and not a few. Why do I say that the world has nights, when it is almost entirely night itself, and entirely always immersed in darkness? Night is Jewish faithlessness; night is the ignorance of the pagans; night is heretical depravity; night is even the carnal or merely natural way of life of Catholics. Is it not night wherever the things that are of the Spirit of God are not perceived?✦ But even among heretics or schismatics, as many sects as there are, that's how many nights there are. In vain you seek the sun of justice and the light of truth through these nights — that is, the Bridegroom — because light has no fellowship with darkness.✦ But someone may say that the bride isn't so foolish or so blind as to seek light in darkness, or to seek her beloved among those who are ignorant and don't love him.

Sought in Childhood, Found in Truth

The bride confesses she sought through the nights in her childhood, thinking and seeking like a child, wandering like a lost sheep, still weak in understanding.

It's as though she says she is now seeking through the nights, and not rather that she has sought — she doesn't say 'I seek,' but 'I have sought through the nights,' whom my soul loves.✦ And the meaning is that when she was a child, she thought like a child, and as a child she sought truth where it was not — wandering and not finding — according to that line in the psalm: 'I have wandered like a sheep that is lost.' Finally, when she speaks of being in bed, she mentions that she was still then like someone weak in age and small in understanding.

False Reports of Christ's Whereabouts

While still weak, the bride fell in with deceivers who said 'Look, here is Christ,' but examining their claims she found no truth among them and caught those nights red-handed.

If, however, you take it this way: 'On my bed' — meaning 'existing or lying down' — 'I sought the one my soul loves'; I didn't seek while in bed, but, being in bed, I sought; that is: when I was still weak and frail, and completely unable to follow the Bridegroom wherever he went, to follow him into the hard and lofty heights of his greatness, I fell in with many who, knowing my desire, would say to me, 'Look, here is Christ,' 'Look, there he is': and he was neither here nor there.✦✦ I fell, however, and not to my harm. For the closer I drew and the more carefully I examined, the more quickly and surely I came to know that the truth was not among them at all. For I searched and did not find; and I caught those nights red-handed, who by day were passing themselves off as something they were not.

Rising to Seek Above

The bride resolves to rise and circle the city, but the preacher urges her to seek Christ above where he sits at the Father's right hand, not in the circuit of the wicked.

From this I said: I will rise and go around the city; through the streets and squares I will seek him whom my soul loves.✦ Look now, or even consider, because she lies there who says: I will rise. Beautifully said, altogether. Why wouldn't she rise, once she knew of the beloved's resurrection? But as for you, O blessed one, if you have risen with Christ, you must set your mind on the things that are above; and you must seek Christ not below, but above, where he sits at the right hand of the Father.✦✦ But I will go around the city, you say. To what end? The wicked walk in their own circuit.✦

The Bread of Life Ascended

The earthly city holds no bread of life, for the living bread who descended from heaven has ascended to where he was before—Jesus Christ, the bridegroom of the Church, God over all, blessed forever.

Leave this to the Jews, to whom their own prophet foretold it: that they will suffer hunger like dogs and will go around the city. And if you enter the city according to another prophet, look — wasted with hunger: which certainly would not be the case if the bread of life had been in it. He rose from the heart of the earth, but did not remain above the earth. Now he ascends to where he was before. For the one who descends is the same one who ascends — the living bread who came down from heaven, the very same one, the bridegroom of the Church, Jesus Christ our Lord, who is God over all, blessed forever. Amen.

Read the original Latin

In lectulo meo quaesivi per noctes quem diligit, anima mea. Non est reversus sponsus ad vocem et votum revocantis. Quare? Ut desiderium crescat, ut probetur affectus, ut exerceatur amoris negotium. Sane ergo dissimulatio est, non indignatio. Sed superest, ut quaeratur, si forte reperiatur quaesitus, qui vocatus non venit, dicente Domino: Omnis qui quaerit, invenit. Porro verbum revocationis tale est: Revertere; assimilare, dilecte mi, capreae hinnuloque cervorum. Ad quam vocem dum non est reversus, utique ob illas causas quae dictae sunt: hinc ista quae amat facta cupidior, mox sese ad requirendum tota aviditate dedit.

Et primo quidem quaerit illum in lectulo, sed minime invenit. Surgit inde, circuit civitatem, it et redit per plateas et vicos, et non occurrit, neque apparet. Interrogantur quique forte occurrerint, nihilque certi reportatur. Neque vicis unius, aut unius noctis quaesitio haec, et haec frustratio, cum dicat ista, quia quaesivi per noctes. Quid hoc desiderii est et ardoris, ut surgens de nocte publicum non erubescat, percurrat civitatem, percunctetur palam et passim de dilecto, atque a vestigandis semitis eius nulla valeat ratione averti, nulla praepediri difficultate, non tempestivae retineri amore quietis, non sponsae verecundia, non vel timore nocturno? Et tamen in his omnibus frustrata est usque adhuc a desiderio suo. Quaere, quid sibi vult pertinax haec et diuturna fraudatio, taediorum nutrix, suspicionum fomes, impatientiae fax, noverca amoris, mater desperationis? Si adhuc dissimulatio est, nimis est molesta.

Esto quod pie utiliterque interim fuerit dissimulatum, donec in sola adhuc vocatione seu revocatione res erat. Nunc vero cum requiritur, et ita requiritur, quid iam conferre poterit dissimulatio? Si de carnalibus sponsis et pudendis amoribus quaestio est, sicut litteralis superficies praelusisse videtur; et si inter illos talia contingere queant, mea non interest, ipsi viderint. Quod si animarum quaerentium Dominum mentibus et affectibus pro quantulocunque posse meo respondere et satisfacere me oportet, eruendum sane est de Scriptura sancta, in qua se vitam habere confidunt, eo vitale aliquid, quo spirituale; ut edant pauperes et saturentur, et vivant corda eorum. Et quid tam cordium vita, quam Dominus meus Iesus Christus, de quo aiebat qui eo vivebat, quia cum Christus apparuerit vita vestra, tunc et vos apparebitis cum ipso in gloria? Ipse ergo ad medium veniat, quo et nobis veraciter dici possit: Medius autem vestrum stat, quem vos nescitis. Quanquam nescio quomodo non sciatur a spiritualibus sponsus Spiritus, qui tamen ita in spiritu profecerunt, ut possint dicere cum propheta: Spiritus ante faciem nostram Christus Dominus; et cum Apostolo: Et si cognovimus Christum secundum carnem, sed nunc iam non novimus. Nonne is est, quem sponsa quaerebat?

Is vere est sponsus, et amans, et amabilis. Is, inquam, vere sponsus; sicut caro eius vere est cibus, et sanguis eius vere est potus : et totum quod de ipso est, vere est, quando ipse est non aliud sane, quam ipsa Veritas.

Verum is sponsus quid est quod non invenitur quaesitus, cum requiratur tam studiose et impigre, nunc quidem in lectulo, nunc vero in civitate, aut etiam in plateis vel vicis; ipse autem dicat: Quaerite, et invenietis; et: Qui quaerit, invenit? Propheta quoque loquatur ad eum: Bonus es, Domine, animae quaerenti te; et item sanctus Isaias: Quaerite Dominum, dum inveniri potest? Quomodo ergo implebuntur Scripturae? Neque enim quae hic inducitur quaerens, una est ex his quibus ipse ait: Quaeretis me, et non invenietis. Sed attendite tres esse causas, quae interim occurrunt, et quaerentes frustrari solent: cum aut videlicet non in tempore quaerunt, aut non sicut oportet, aut non ubi oportet. Si enim omne tempus aptum est ad quaerendum, cur ergo dicit propheta, quod iam memoravi: Quaerite Dominum, dum inveniri potest? Erit absque dubio cum inveniri non poterit; et ideo addit, ut invocetur dum prope est; quia futurum est iam non prope futurum. A quo enim tunc non requiretur?

Mihi, inquit, curvabitur omne genu, etc. Nec tamen invenietur ab impiis, quos ultores angeli arcebunt profecto, et tollent ne videant gloriam Dei. Frustra inclamabunt et fatuae virgines; minime prorsus iam ad eas exit, clausa ianua. Sibi proinde dictum putent illae: Quaeretis me, et non invenietis.

Caeterum nunc tempus acceptabile, nunc dies salutis sunt; tempus plane et quaerendi, et invocandi, quando plerumque, et antequam invocetur, adesse sentitur. Audi denique quid polliceatur. Antequam me invocetis, inquit, dicam: Ecce adsum. Nec latuit benignitas haec et facilitas temporis quod nunc est, illum qui in psalmo loquitur: Desiderium pauperum exaudivit Dominus, praeparationem cordis eorum audivit auris tua. Quod si per bona opera quaeritur Deus, ergo dum tempus habemus operemur bonum ad omnes : praesertim quia Dominus aperte praenuntiat venire noctem, quando nemo potest operari. Tune aliud ad quaerendum Deum, ad operandum quod bonum est, reperturus es tibi tempus in saeculis venturis, praeter hoc, quod constituit tibi Deus, in quo recordetur tui? Et ideo dies salutis, quia in his ipse Deus, rex noster ante saecula, operatus est salutem in medio terrae.

I ergo tu, et in medio gehennae exspectato salutem, quae iam facta est in medio terrae. Quam tibi somnias proventuram inter ardores sempiternos facultatem veniam promerendi, cum iam transiit tempus miserendi? Non relinquitur tibi hostia pro peccatis, mortuo in peccatis. Non crucifigitur iterum Filius Dei; mortuus est semel, iam non moritur. Non descendit ad inferos sanguis, qui effusus est super terram. Biberunt omnes peccatores terrae: non est quod sibi ex eo vindicent daemones ad restinguendos focos suos; sed neque homines socii daemoniorum. Semel illo descendit, non sanguis, sed anima; et haec portio eorum qui in carcere erant: Una illa visitatio, quae tunc facta est per praesentiam animae, cum corpus penderet exanime super terram. Sanguis aridam rigavit, sanguis infudit terram, et inebriavit eam; sanguis quae in terra, et quae in coelis sunt pacificavit, non autem et quae apud inferos: nisi quod semel illo, ut dixi, anima eius excurrit, et fecit ex parte redemptionem, ne vel eo momenti vacaret opera charitatis; sed ultra non adiiciet.

Ergo nunc tempus acceptabile et aptum ad quaerendum in quo plane qui quaerit invenit: si tamen ubi, et uti oportet, quaerit. Et haec una causa, quae impedire potest, ne inveniatur sponsus a quaerentibus se, cum non quaerunt in tempore opportuno. At non ea impedit sponsam, nempe invocantem et quaerentem in tempore opportuno. Sed ne illa quidem eum tepide aut negligenter seu perfunctorie quaerit: nam corde ardenti et omnino infatigabiliter quaerit, plane ut decet.

Restat ut de tertia videamus, ne videlicet ubi non decet quaerat. In lectulo meo quaesivi quem diligit anima mea. An forte non in lectulo quaerendus erat, sed in lecto; quippe cui orbis angustus est? Sed non horreo lectulum, qui novi parvulum. Parvulus denique nobis natus est. Exsulta tu et lauda, habitatio Sion, quia magnus in medio tui sanctus Israel. At idem Dominus in Sion magnus, apud nos parvulus, apud nos infirmus repertus est; ex uno iacere, ex altero et in lectulo iacere habens. An non lectulus tumulus?

an non lectulus praesepium? an non lectulus uterus Virginis? Neque enim magni Patris uterus lectulus est, sed lectus magnus, de quo ad Filium: Ex utero, inquit, ante luciferum genui te. Quanquam ne lectus quidem forsitan digne censendus sit uterus ille, qui regentis potius, quam iacentis est locus. Manens enim in Patre regit cum Patre universa. Denique non iacere, sed sedere ad dexteram Patris Filium fides indubitata habet; et ipse coelum sibi sedem esse, non lectum perhibet : ut scias illum in suis, id est in superis, nequaquam solatia hahere infirmitatis, sed potestatis insignia.

Merito proinde sponsa ponens lectulum, dicit suum, quia omne quod infirmum est Dei, non de proprio inesse illi manifestum est, sed de nostro. Ex nobis assumpsit quae pro nobis sustinuit, nasci, lactari, mori, sepeliri. Mea est mortalitas nati, mea infirmitas parvuli, mea exspiratio crucifixi, mea sepulti dormitio. Quae priora transierunt, et ecce nova sunt omnia. In lectulo meo quaesivi per noctes quem diligit anima mea. Quid? in tuo quaerebas, qui se iam in sua receperat? Non videras Filium hominis ascendentem ubi erat prius?

Iam coelum tumulo commutavit et stabulo, et tu illum in tuo adhuc lectulo quaeris? Surrexit, non est hic. Quid quaeris in lectulo fortem, in lectulo magnum, clarificatum in stabulo? Introivit in potentias Domini, decorem induit et fortitudinem: et ecce sedet super cherubim, qui sub lapide iacuit. Ex hoc iam non iacet, sed sedet: et tu tanquam iacenti subsidia paras? Sive, ut absolutior veritas sit, aut sedet iudicans, aut stat adiuvans.

Sic vos, o bonae mulieres, cuinam, quaeso, excubias exhibetis? cui aromata comparatis, paratis unguenta? Si sciretis quantus is sit, quamque sit inter mortuos liber mortuus iste quem ungere pergitis, vos forsitan petissetis ab eo potius ungi. Nonne iste est, quem unxit Deus suus oleo laetitiae prae consortibus suis? Beati eritis vos, si gloriari potueritis revertentes, et dicere, quia de plenitudine eius et nos accepimus. Enimvero factum est ita. Nam revera unctae remeant, quae uncturae venerant. Quidni unctae tam laeto nuntio novae odoriferaeque resurrectionis?

Quam speciosi pedes evangelizantium pacem, evangelizantium bona! Missae ab angelo opus faciunt evangelistae; factaeque apostolae apostolorum, dum festinant ad annuntiandum mane misericordiam Domini, dicunt: In odore unguentorum tuorum currimus. Extunc ergo et deinceps frustra in lectulo quaesitus est sponsus; quia etsi cognoverat eum Ecclesia secundum carnem, id est secundum carnis infirmitatem, sed nunc iam non novit. Denique quaesitus est postmodum a Petro et Ioanne identidem in sepulcro, sed minime inventus. Vide tu, utrumne apte et competenter quisque horum tunc dicere quiverit: In lectulo meo quaesivi quem diligit anima mea; quaesivi, et non inveni. Nempe itura ad Patrem caro quae non erat ex Patre, prius per gloriam resurrectionis omne infirmum se exuit, accinxit potentia, induit lumine sicut vestimento: in quali nimirum gloria et ornatu decuit eam paternis aspectibus praesentari.

Pulchre vero sponsa: Non quem diligo ego, sed quem diligit anima mea, inquit: quod vere et proprie ad solam pertineat animam illa dilectio, qua aliquid spiritualiter diligit, verbi gratia, Deum, angelum, animam. Sed et diligere iustitiam, veritatem, pietatem, sapientiam, virtutesque alias, eiusmodi est. Nam cum secundum carnem quidpiam diligit, vel potius appetit anima, verbi gratia cibum, vestimentum, dominium, et quae istiusmodi sunt corporalia sive terrena, carnis potius, quam animae amor dicendus est. Et hoc pro eo quod sponsa minus usitate, sed non minus proprie, animam suam sponsum diligere dicit, monstrans proinde spiritum esse sponsum, at a se non carnali, sed spirituali amore diligi. Et bene per noctes se quaesisse eum ait. Nam si iuxta Paulum, qui dormiunt, nocte dormiunt, et qui ebrii sunt, nocte ebrii sunt : ita non absurde, ut opinor, dici potest, quod qui ignorant, nocte ignorant; ac per hoc qui quaerunt, nocte quaerunt. Quis enim quaerat, quod palam habet? Porro dies palam facit, quod nox abscondit, ut reperias in die, quod in nocte quaesieras.

Nox est itaque donec quaeritur sponsus; quoniam si dies esset, de medio fieret, et minime quaereretur. Et de hoc satis: nisi forte numerositas haec noctium aliquid adhuc quaerendum signet, quia non noctem, sed noctes posuit.

Et mihi videtur, si tu melius non habes, talis posse ratio reddi. Habet mundus iste noctes suas, et non paucas. Quid dico, quia noctes habet mundus, cum pene totus ipse sit nox, et totus semper versetur in tenebris? Nox est Iudaica perfidia, nox ignorantia paganorum, nox haeretica pravitas, nox etiam Catholicorum carnalis, animalisve conversatio. An non nox, ubi non percipiuntur ea quae sunt Spiritus Dei? Sed et apud haereticos vel schismaticos quot sectae, tot noctes. Frustra per has noctes iustitiae solem et lumen quaeritis veritatis, id est sponsum; quia nulla societas luci ad tenebras. Sed dicit aliquis, quod non sit tam stulta, tamve caeca sponsa, ut quaerat lumen in tenebris, quaerat dilectum apud ignorantes, et qui non diligunt eum.

Quasi vero se per noctes nunc quaerere dicat, et non potius quaesisse, non ait: Quaero; sed, quaesivi per noctes, quem diligit anima mea. Et est sensus, quia cum esset parvula, sapiebat ut parvula, cogitabat et parvula, et quaerebat veritatem ubi non erat, errans, et non inveniens, iuxta illud in psalmo: Erravi sicut ovis quae periit. Denique in lectulo se memorat tunc adhuc esse, tanquam aetate imbecillem ac parvulam sensu.

Si tamen ita construas: In lectulo meo, subaudis, existens vel iacens, quaesivi quem diligit anima mea; non quaesivi in lectulo, sed ens in lectulo quaesivi, hoc est: Cum adhuc infirma et invalida forem, et omnino minus idonea sequi sponsum quocunque iret, sequi ad ardua et excelsa sublimitatis illius, incidi in multos, qui cognoscentes desiderium meum, dicebant mihi: Ecce hic est Christus, ecce illic est : et neque hic, neque illic erat. Incidi autem, et non ad insipientiam mihi. Nam quo propius accessi, et exploravi diligentius, eo citius certiusque cognovi, veritatem apud eos minime esse. Quaesivi enim, et non inveni; et deprehendi noctes, qui se dies mentiebantur.

Ex dixi: Surgam, et circuibo civitatem; per vicos et plateas quaeram quem diligit anima mea. Intuere vel nunc, quia iacet quae dicit: Surgam. Pulchre omnino. Quidni surgeret, cognito de resurrectione dilecti? Caeterum, o beata, si consurrexisti cum Christo, quae sursum sunt sapias oportet; neque deorsum, sed sursum quaeras Christum necesse est, ubi sedet in dextera Patris. Sed circuibo, ais, civitatem. Ad quid? In circuitu impii ambulant.

Iudaeis istud relinquito, quibus proprius eorum propheta hoc vaticinatus est, quia famem patientur ut canes, et circuibunt civitatem. Et si introieris in civitatem, secundum prophetam alium, ecce attenuati fame : quod utique non esset, si in ea fuisset panis vitae. Surrexit de corde terrae, sed super terram non remansit. Ascendit autem ubi erat prius. Nam qui descendit, ipse est et qui ascendit, panis vivus qui de coelo descendit, idem ipse sponsus Ecclesiae, Iesus Christus Dominus noster, qui est super omnia Deus benedictus in saecula. Amen.

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩Matt.7.8;Luke.11.10 — For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, it will be opened. Luke.11.10 — For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, it will be opened.
  2. ↩Luke.6.21;Isa.58.11 — Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. Isa.58.11 — And the LORD will guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in scorching places, and your bones he will strengthen; and you shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.
  3. ↩Col.3.4 — When Christ, who is your life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with him in glory.
  4. ↩John.1.26 — John answered them, saying, 'I baptize in water. Among you stands one you do not know.'
  5. ↩2Cor.5.16 — So then, from now on we know no one according to the flesh. Even if we once knew Christ according to the flesh, we no longer know him that way.
  6. ↩Matt.7.7;Luke.11.9 — Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. Luke.11.9 — And I tell you: ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you.
  7. ↩Matt.7.8;Luke.11.10 — For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, it will be opened. Luke.11.10 — For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, it will be opened.
  8. ↩Lam.3.25 — The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul that seeks him.
  9. ↩Isa.55.6 — Seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him while he is near.
  10. ↩John.7.34;John.7.36 — You will seek me and you will not find me; and where I am, you cannot come. John.7.36 — What is this word that he said, 'You will seek me and you will not find me, and where I am you are not able to come'?
  11. ↩Isa.55.6 — Seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him while he is near.
  12. ↩Isa.55.6 — Seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him while he is near.
  13. ↩Phil.2.10 — so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
  14. ↩Mark.16.16;John.3.17-John.3.18 — The one who believes and is baptized will be saved, but the one who does not believe will be condemned. John.3.17 — For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. John.3.18 — Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God.
  15. ↩Matt.25.11-Matt.25.12 — Afterward the other virgins also come, saying, 'Lord, Lord, open to us.' Matt.25.12 — But he answered, 'Truly, I tell you, I do not know you.'
  16. ↩John.7.34 — You will seek me and you will not find me; and where I am, you cannot come.
  17. ↩Song.3.1 — On my bed, night after night, I sought the one my soul loves; I sought him, but I did not find him.
  18. ↩Isa.12.6 — Cry out and shout, O dweller of Zion, for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.
  19. ↩Luke.2.7 — And she gave birth to her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling cloths, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
  20. ↩Luke.1.31 — And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.
  21. ↩Ps.109.3 — They surrounded me with words of hatred, and fought against me without cause.
  22. ↩Heb.1.13;Ps.109.1 — But to which of the angels has he ever said, "Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet"? Ps.109.1 — To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. O God of my praise, do not be silent.
  23. ↩Rev.21.5 — And the One seated on the throne said, 'Behold, I am making all things new.' And He said, 'Write, for these words are trustworthy and true.'
  24. ↩Song.3.1 — On my bed, night after night, I sought the one my soul loves; I sought him, but I did not find him.
  25. ↩John.6.62 — What then if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before?
  26. ↩John.3.13 — And no one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven—the Son of Man.
  27. ↩Rom.10.15 — And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!'
  28. ↩Song.1.4 — Draw me after you—let us run together! The king has brought me into his chambers. We will rejoice and be glad in you; we will remember your love more than wine. The upright love you.
  29. ↩John.20.1-John.20.8 — Now on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw the stone already removed from the tomb. John.20.2 — So she runs and comes to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and says to them, 'They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid him.' John.20.3 — So Peter and the other disciple went out and were heading to the tomb. John.20.4 — The two were running together, and the other disciple outran Peter and arrived at the tomb first. John.20.5 — And bending down he sees the linen cloths lying there; he did not, however, go in. John.20.6 — So Simon Peter, who had been following him, came also, and went into the tomb, and saw the linen cloths lying there John.20.7 — and the face cloth that had been on his head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in one place by itself. John.20.8 — Then the other disciple, the one who had reached the tomb first, also went in, and he saw and believed.
  30. ↩Song.3.1 — On my bed, night after night, I sought the one my soul loves; I sought him, but I did not find him.
  31. ↩Song.1.7;Song.3.1-Song.3.4 — Tell me, whom my soul loves, where you pasture your flock, where you make it lie down at noon; for why should I be like one who wanders beside the flocks of your companions? Song.3.1 — On my bed, night after night, I sought the one my soul loves; I sought him, but I did not find him. Song.3.2 — I will rise now and go about the city, through the streets and through the squares; I will seek the one my soul loves. I sought him, but I did not find him. Song.3.3 — The watchmen who go about the city found me. "Have you seen the one my soul loves?" Song.3.4 — Scarcely had I passed them when I found the one my soul loves. I held him and would not let him go until I had brought him to my mother's house, to the room of her who conceived me.
  32. ↩1Thess.5.7 — For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night.
  33. ↩1Cor.2.14 — But the natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he is not able to understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.
  34. ↩2Cor.6.14 — Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?
  35. ↩Song.3.1 — On my bed, night after night, I sought the one my soul loves; I sought him, but I did not find him.
  36. ↩Song.3.1 — On my bed, night after night, I sought the one my soul loves; I sought him, but I did not find him.
  37. ↩Matt.24.23;Mark.13.21 — Then if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or 'There he is!'—do not believe it. Mark.13.21 — And then if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or 'Look, there he is!' do not believe it.
  38. ↩Song.3.2 — I will rise now and go about the city, through the streets and through the squares; I will seek the one my soul loves. I sought him, but I did not find him.
  39. ↩Col.3.1-Col.3.2 — If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Col.3.2 — Set your minds on the things above, not on the things on the earth.
  40. ↩Ps.110.1 — The LORD says to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool."
  41. ↩Ps.12.8 — You, LORD, will guard them; you will keep us safe from this generation forever.

Notes

  1. 1 ↩Rendered 'dissimulatio' as concealment and 'indignatio' as rejection to capture the pastoral nuance: the bridegroom hides himself rather than angrily turning away.
  2. 2 ↩vicis unius is rendered 'single street' (from vicus, alley/street) rather than 'single turn/moment' (from vicis), aligning with the spatial search through the city's alleys in the previous sentence.
  3. 3 ↩The clause 'vere est, quando ipse est non aliud sane, quam ipsa Veritas' is rendered to capture the Eucharistic realism of the flesh/blood statements and the identification of Christ with Truth; the connective force of 'quando' is taken as explanatory/temporal.
  4. 4 ↩The contrast between lectulus (little bed/cradle) and lectus (bed/couch) plays on the humility of Christ's earthly dwelling versus the grandeur of his divine identity; orbis angustus est ('the world is too narrow') carries the sense that creation cannot contain its Maker.
  5. 5 ↩The clause 'ex uno iacere, ex altero et in lectulo iacere habens' is compressed and ambiguous: the sense seems to be that Christ has the character of one lying dead on one side (his suffering humanity) and one lying in a little bed on the other (his humble, approachable incarnation). The Latin is somewhat elliptical.
  6. 6 ↩The clause 'ut absolutior veritas sit' is grammatically compressed: it may mean 'so that the truth may be more fully stated' or 'so as to give a more absolute/complete account.' The rendering 'so that the truth may be more complete' preserves the sense of fuller disclosure without resolving whether the purpose is rhetorical or ontological.
  7. 7 ↩Language echoes Psalm 45:7 (44:8 Vulg.), 'Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated wickedness: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.'
  8. 8 ↩Language echoes John 1:16, 'And of his fulness have all we received.'
  9. 9 ↩The rare form 'uncturae' (those destined to be anointed / future anointing) is uncertain; rendered here in the most plausible sense: the women came to anoint another but return having themselves been anointed — i.e., they received the benefit they sought to confer.

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