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Chapter 9SermC.1.9

Sermo 9

The Bride Is Questioned about Her Grief

Bernard introduces the bride’s sorrowful state and the bridegroom’s companions question her, recalling her past return from estrangement and her longing to touch the bridegroom’s feet.

Let's turn now to the book, and let's give a reasoned account of the bride's words along with their sequence. For they hang loose, and without a proper beginning the difficult passages waver uncertainly. And so something needs to be set out first, to which those later parts can properly attach themselves. So let's suppose that those men whom we've called the bridegroom's companions came to visit and greet the bride, just as they did the day before yesterday and the day before that; and that they found her murmuring under her breath and worn out, and wondered at the reason, and addressed her somewhat in this way. What's happened that's new? Why do we see you sadder than usual? What's the cause of this unexpected murmuring? Surely when you went away, turned aside and estranged, chasing after your lovers — with whom things were going badly for you — and were at last driven to come back to your former husband, didn't you persist with many prayers and tears so that you might at least deserve to touch his feet?✦

From the Feet to the Hand

The bride confesses that after receiving the kiss of forgiveness at his feet, she pressed on in prayer and was also granted the kiss of his hand and growth in virtue.

I recall, she says. What? Once that was granted, and at the same time forgiveness for offenses was received in the kiss of his feet, surely I didn't become impatient again, utterly unsatisfied by such a great condescension, but hungry for a deeper intimacy — I asked for and obtained a second favor with the same urgency as before, so that by the kiss of his hand I gained not a few, and not small, virtues? I don't deny it, she says. And to her: Indeed, aren't you the one who used to swear and plead that if you were ever allowed to reach the kiss of his hand, it would be enough for you, and you'd ask for nothing more? I am. What then? Perhaps you'll complain that something of what you had received was taken away?

Nothing Lost, Nothing Feared

The bride answers that she has lost nothing of what was given and does not fear that her former forgiveness will be revoked.

Nothing. Or are you afraid that the forgiveness you once presumed to ask for — for your former sinful way of life — will be demanded back from you? No.

The Bold Request for the Kiss of the Mouth

Pressed by love and desire rather than reason, the bride openly asks for the kiss of the bridegroom’s mouth, acknowledging her boldness but insisting that love overpowers modesty.

Come on, then — tell me how we can possibly satisfy you. I will not rest, she says, unless she kisses me with the kiss of her mouth.✦ I appreciate the kiss of your feet, and I appreciate the kiss of your hand; but if she has any concern for me at all, let her kiss me with the kiss of her mouth.✦1 I'm not ungrateful — I love. I have received, I admit, things of greater merit — yet far lesser than my desires.2 I'm carried away by desire, not by reason. Please don't take offense at my boldness — affection presses me forward. Modesty certainly protests — but love overpowers.

Love’s Urgency and the Soul’s Barren Labor

The bride insists urgently on the kiss, reviews her ascetical fidelity and labors, and confesses that without interior sweetness all her works are barren, so she begs again for the kiss of his mouth.

I'm not unaware that the honor of the king loves judgment, but headlong love neither awaits judgment, nor is tempered by counsel, nor bridled by shame, nor subjected to reason. I ask, I beg, I insist — let her kiss me with the kiss of her mouth.✦ Look, through his grace I've been living chastely and soberly for many years now; I devote myself to reading, I resist vices, I apply myself to prayer frequently; I keep watch against temptations, and I reflect on my years in the bitterness of my soul. Without complaint, I think, as far as it depends on me, I associate among the brothers; I am subject to superiors and authorities, going out and returning at the elder's command. I don't desire what belongs to others; I have rather given my own — and myself along with them. In the sweat of my face I eat my bread — but in all of this, the whole consists of custom, and nothing of sweetness.✦ What am I, then — according to the prophet — but a heifer of Ephraim, taught to love the threshing?✦ . Finally, in the Gospel, the one who only does what he ought to do is called a useless servant.✦ Perhaps I'm keeping the commandments somehow, but my soul in them is like earth without water.✦ And so, that my burnt offering may grow rich with fat: Let him kiss me, I beg, with the kiss of his mouth.✦✦

The Kiss Longed for by Many

Bernard extends the bride’s longing to many others who complain of spiritual dryness, showing that they too are really sighing for the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the true kiss of God.

Many of you, too, as I recall, are accustomed to complain to me in your private confessions about this kind of dryness in your soul and the dullness of a sluggish mind — that they cannot penetrate the deep and subtle things of God, and that they experience little or nothing of the Spirit's sweetness. What are they doing but sighing for the kiss? They are truly sighing and longing for the Spirit of wisdom and understanding: for understanding, so that they may reach the goal; for wisdom, so that they may taste what they have grasped by understanding. I think the holy prophet was praying in that very affection when he said: Let my soul be filled with fatness and richness, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips. He was seeking the kiss entirely — that kiss at the touch of which, when the lips are poured out with the richness of special grace, what the same person prays for elsewhere would follow: Let my mouth be filled with praise, so that I may sing your glory, your greatness, all the day long. And then he poured out, once he had tasted it: How great is the abundance of your sweetness, Lord, which you have hidden from those who fear you. This kiss has held us long enough, and — to speak truly — I am confident that I have not yet adequately expressed it. But let us pass on to what remains, because it is better impressed upon the heart than expressed in words.

Christ Draws Near to Those Who Speak of Him

Bernard introduces the next line of the Song and shows that while the bride speaks of the bridegroom, Christ himself comes near, gladly present to those who talk about him, as on the road to Emmaus and by promise.

It follows: 'Your breasts are better than wine, fragrant with the finest ointments.'✦ And the author doesn't tell us whose these words are, leaving us free to interpret them — and especially to decide which person they apply to. But I don't lack the means to assign them fittingly — whether to the bride, to the bridegroom, or even to the bridegroom's companions. And I'll show first how they apply to the bride. Meanwhile, while they were conversing about those things and with those persons, the one they were talking about came near. Certainly, he gladly draws near to those speaking about him. That's his way. So it was on the road to Emmaus: as they walked and talked among themselves, he showed himself as a pleasant and eloquent companion.✦ Surely this is what he promises in the Gospel: Where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them; and through the prophet: Before they cry out, I will hear them; and while they are still speaking, I will say: Here I am.✦✦ And so now he was present though not summoned, and delighted by their words, he anticipates their prayers. I think that sometimes he doesn't even wait for words, but is called forth by thoughts alone. In the end, as the one who was found to be according to God's heart says: The Lord has heard the desire of the poor; your ear has heard the preparation of their heart.✦ Pay attention to yourselves in every place, knowing that God, who knows all your things — who searches hearts and fashions your hearts individually — understands all your works.✦

The Bride Humbles Herself and Praises His Breasts

Aware of the bridegroom’s presence, the bride is ashamed of her boldness and turns directly to him, excusing herself and praising his breasts as better than wine and fragrant with the finest ointments.

The bride, then, perceiving that the bridegroom was present, stopped short — for she is ashamed of the presumption in which she finds herself caught, since she thought it more modest to make her approach through messengers; and soon turning to him directly, she tries to excuse her rashness as best she can: Your breasts are better than wine, fragrant with the finest ointments.✦ And as if she were to say: If I seem to be getting above myself, you made it so, O bridegroom — you who nursed me with such great condescension in the sweetness of your breasts, so that with every fear driven away by love of you, not by my own rashness, I might dare more boldly than is fitting. Indeed, I dare this mindful of his tender care, forgetful of his majesty.

The Power of the Holy Kiss

Bernard notes that the preceding words may have been said for verbal consistency, and now turns to explain the significance of the bridegroom’s breasts.

These things may have been said for the sake of consistency in wording.

The Bridegroom’s Breasts: Patience and Mercy

The bridegroom’s two breasts are interpreted as his patient waiting for offenders and his merciful readiness to forgive the repentant, confirmed by scriptural testimony.

Now let's see what kind of recommendation the bridegroom's breasts carry. The bridegroom's two breasts are two proofs of innate gentleness within him, because he both waits patiently for the one who offends and receives mercifully the one who repents. A twin sweetness, I say, overflows in the heart of the Lord Jesus — namely, patience in waiting and readiness in giving. And hear this: this is not my own invention. You read, after all, about his patience: Do you despise the riches of his goodness, his patience, and his long-suffering?✦ Likewise: Do you not know that God's kindness leads you to repentance?✦ For this reason he long holds back the sentence of vengeance from the one who despises him, so that at some point he may show the grace of forgiveness to the one who repents. For he does not will the death of the sinner, but that he be converted and live.

Examples of Easy Forgiveness

Bernard offers scriptural examples of the ease of forgiveness, showing how the bride, tasting this twin mercy, dares boldly to ask for the kiss, not from her own merits but from experienced sweetness.

Let us set out examples from the other breast as well — the one called the ease of forgiving. You read of it: "At whatever hour the sinner groans, his sin will be forgiven him"; you read: "Let the wicked abandon his way, and the unjust man his thoughts, and let him return to the Lord, and the Lord will have mercy on him; and to our God, because he is abundant in forgiving."✦ David beautifully captures both in a few words, saying: "Long-suffering and very merciful."✦✦ The bride confesses, then, that through experiencing this twin goodness, trust grew in her to the point where she dared to ask for a kiss.✦ What wonder is there, she says, if I presume so boldly about you, O bridegroom, I who have experienced such an abundance of sweetness from your breasts? So the sweetness of your breasts urges me to boldness — not confidence in my own merits.

Grace More Effective Than Condemnation

The bride explains that the bridegroom’s breasts are better than wine because grace from them is more helpful than harsh condemnation, and his fragrance, not only his presence, draws and nourishes souls.

When she says, "Your breasts are better than wine," this is what that means.✦ The richness of grace that flows from your breasts is more effective for my spiritual progress than the biting condemnation of prelates.3 Your breasts are not only better than wine, but also fragrant with the finest ointments, because you refresh those who are present with the milk of inner sweetness, but you also sprinkle those who are absent with the pleasing fragrance of a good reputation, having a good testimony from those who are within and from those who are outside.✦4 You have, I say, milk within and ointments without, since indeed there would be no one for you to refresh with milk if you had not first drawn them by fragrance.5 Truly, as for these ointments, if they contain anything worthy of consideration, it will be seen later, when we have come to that place where it says in what follows, "In the fragrance of your ointments we will run."✦6 Now, according to our promise, let us see whether these very words that were given to the bride are also fitting for the bridegroom.7

The Kiss Received and the Bride Made Fruitful

While the bride speaks, the bridegroom is present, grants the kiss, and she conceives, her breasts swelling with milk as a sign that those who persist in prayer are filled with devotion and interior sweetness.

While the bride is speaking about the bridegroom, suddenly — as I was saying — he is there: he nods to her desire, gives her a kiss, and fills her with the discourse that is written: "You have granted him the desire of his heart, and you have not withheld the will of his lips."✦ And this is proved by the fullness of her breasts. Surely the holy kiss is of such power that, as soon as she receives it, the bride conceives from it — her breasts swelling, as it were growing fat with milk, as a testimony. Those who are devoted to praying frequently have experienced what I'm saying. Often we approach the altar with a lukewarm and dry heart, and we give ourselves to prayer. But for those who persist, grace is suddenly poured out, the chest grows rich, the inward parts are filled with a flood of devotion; and if there is someone to press it, they will not hesitate to pour out abundantly the milk of conceived sweetness. Let her say then: 'You have, bride, what you sought, and this is a sign to you — that your breasts have become better than wine.'✦ From this, you may know for certain that you have received the kiss — because you feel that you have conceived.

Milk Better Than Worldly Wine

The bride’s breasts, filled with an abundance of milk, are set above the wine of worldly knowledge, which intoxicates and puffs up rather than truly nourishing or building up.

And so your breasts have swollen, made to overflow with an abundance of milk, better than the wine of worldly knowledge — which indeed intoxicates, but with curiosity, not with love; filling, not nourishing; puffing up, not building up; gorging, not strengthening.

To the Companions: Breasts Are Better Than Contemplation’s Wine

Bernard turns to the companions, arguing that the bridegroom’s breasts, that is the nourishment given through preaching, are more necessary for building up many than the rarer delight of contemplation.

But let's bring these things out for our companions too. You're wrong to complain about the Bridegroom, because what he's already given is worth more than what you're asking for. What you're asking for may delight you, sure — but the breasts you nurse the little ones with, the ones you bring forth yourself, are better, that is, more necessary, than the wine of contemplation. One thing gladdens the heart of a single person, and another thing builds up many. Rachel may be more beautiful, but Leah is more fruitful. So don't cling too much to the kisses of contemplation, because the breasts of preaching are better.

Mothers in Anxious Care for the Young

The words also fit those who care for others like mothers or nurses, who long for quiet contemplation but are held back by heavy responsibility, judging the fruit of the breasts greater than that of private embraces.

And yet another meaning comes to mind — one I hadn't planned on, but I won't pass over it. For why shouldn't we say that these words apply even more to those very people who preside over others in their anxious care — like a mother or a nurse over little ones? Young women and souls still tender can't bear it patiently when that rest is withheld from them — the rest they long to be more fully taught by doctrine and shaped by example. Won't the restlessness of such people finally be held in check when, under a heavy charge, they're prevented from rousing the beloved until she herself is willing? So those who feel these things long to gaze at the bridegroom's kisses in private, to seek a secret place for themselves, to shun the public eye, to avoid crowds, and to put their own quiet rest before all other cares. 'Stop,' they say, 'stop' — because the fruit of the breasts is greater than the fruit of embraces. Through these things, you vindicate us from the carnal desires that wage war against the soul; you snatch us from the world and win us for God. This, then, is what they say: 'Your breasts are better than wine.' The pleasure of the flesh — which shortly before we were drunk on like wine — is overcome by these spiritual delights that your breasts pour out for us.

Carnal Pleasure and Spiritual Delight

Carnal pleasure is compared to wine that leaves only dryness, while the bride’s breasts, fed by an inward fountain of charity, are never exhausted and always overflow afresh.

And they beautifully compare carnal affection to wine. For once a grape has been pressed, it no longer has anything left to pour out, but is condemned to lasting dryness; so too the flesh, under the pressure of death, is dried up from every single one of its pleasures, and never again revives with its desires. As the prophet says: All flesh is grass, and all its glory is like the flower of the grass.✦ The grass has withered, and the flower has fallen; and the Apostle: Whoever sows in the flesh will reap corruption from the flesh; and again: Food for the stomach, and the stomach for food, but God will destroy both this and these.✦✦✦ But see that this comparison may apply not only to the flesh, but perhaps also to the world. Indeed, the world itself passes away, and its desire with it; and since all things that are in the world have an end, their end will have no end.✦ But not so the breasts. For when these have been drained, they draw again from the fountain of the mother's breast to offer to those who suckle.

Streams of Living Water and the Fragrance of Deeds

The bride’s interior life becomes streams of living water and a spring of eternal life; her breasts are praised not only for teaching but for the fragrance of a good reputation, and Bernard defers further explanation to another beginning, closing with a doxology.

Rightly, then, the bride's breasts are claimed as better than the love of flesh or the world; they are never dried up by any number of those who nurse from them, but they always overflow from the inward parts of charity, so that they may flow again. For rivers flow from her belly, and in her a spring of living water is made, leaping up into eternal life.✦✦ Then the praise of the breasts is heaped up by the fragrance of ointments, because they don't just feed with the flavor of words, but also breathe the scent of deeds by reputation.✦ Now what these breasts are, swollen with what milk, anointed with what ointments, we will show under another beginning of the discourse, with Christ helping us: who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns as God through all ages of ages. Amen.

Read the original Latin

Accedamus iam ad librum, verbisque sponsae rationem demus et consequentiam. Pendent enim, et praerupta nutant absque principio. Ideoque praemittendum cui competenter cohaereant. Ponamus proinde istos, quos sponsi sodales diximus, visitandi salutandique gratia, sicut heri et nudiustertius, accessisse nunc quoque ad sponsam; ipsamque submurmurantem et taedentem reperisse, mirari causam, et quasi alloqui in hunc modum. Quid novi accidit? quid te cernimus solito tristiorem? quae inopinati murmuris causa? Certe cum aversa et alienata ires post amatores tuos, cum quibus male erat tibi, compulsa tandem reverti ad virum tuum priorem, nonne ut saltem merereris tangere pedes, multis precibus et fletibus institisti?

Recolo, inquit. Quid? Obtento eo, simulque accepta in osculo pedum indulgentia de offensis, nunquid non rursus facta impatiens, et tanta nequaquam dignatione contenta, sed maioris familiaritatis cupida, secundam quoque gratiam eadem qua prius instantia postulasti et impetrasti, ita ut in osculo manus adepta sis virtutes non paucas, et non parvas? Non diffiteor, ait. Et illi: Enimvero num tu es quae iurare et obtestari solebas, si unquam ad osculum manus pervenire daretur, sufficere iam tibi; nil te de caetero petituram? Ego. Quid igitur? Forte horum quae acceperas quidpiam ablatum causaberis?

Nihil. An vero times repetitum iri, quod tibi de mala tua pristina conversatione indultum praesumpseras? Non.

Age tamen, dic unde queamus satisfacere tibi. Non quiesco, ait, nisi osculetur me osculo oris sui. Gratias de osculo pedum, gratias et de manus; sed si cura est illi ulla de me, Osculetur me osculo oris sui. Non sum ingrata, sed amo. Accepi, fateor, meritis potiora, sed prorsus inferiora votis. Desiderio feror, non ratione. Ne, quaeso, causemini praesumptionem, ubi affectio urget. Pudor sane reclamat; sed superat amor.

Nec ignoro, quod honor regis iudicium diligit; sed praeceps amor nec iudicium praestolatur, nec consilio temperatur, nec pudore frenatur, nec rationi subiicitur. Rogo, supplico, flagito, osculetur me osculo oris sui. En gratia ipsius multis iam annis caste sobrieque vivere curo, lectioni insisto, resisto vitiis, orationi incumbo frequenter; vigilo contra tentationes, recogito annos meos in amaritudine animae meae. Sine querela me arbitror, quantum in me est, conversari inter fratres, superioribus potestatibus subdita sum, egrediens et regrediens ad imperinm senioris. Aliena non cupio; mea potius et me pariter dedi. In sudore vultus mei comedo panem meum: caeterum quod in his omnibus est, totum constat de consuetudine, de dulcedine nihil. Quid nisi, iuxta prophetam, vitula Ephraim sum docta diligere trituram? .

Denique in Evangelio qui hoc solum quod facere debet, facit, servus inutilis reputatur. Mandata forsan utcunque adimpleo; sed anima mea sicut terra sine aqua in illis. Ut igitur holocaustum meum pingue fiat: Osculetur me, quaeso, osculo oris sui.

Plerique vestrum mihi quoque, ut memini, in privatis confessionibus suis conqueri solent super huiuscemodi animi arentis languore atque hebetudine stolidae mentis, quod Dei scilicet alta atque subtilia penetrare nequeant, quod de suavitate spiritus aut nil, aut parum sentiant. Quid isti, nisi ad osculum suspirant? Suspirant plane, et inhiant spiritui sapientiae et intellectus: intellectus utique quo pertingant; sapientiae, quia gustent quod intellectu apprehenderint. Ego in hoc ipso affectu sanctum puto orasse Prophetam, cum diceret: Sicut adipe et pinguedine repleatur anima mea, et labiis exsultationis laudabit os meum. Osculum omnino petebat, et illud osculum, in cuius tactu perfusis labiis pinguedine gratiae specialis, sequeretur quod alibi idem ipse precatur: Repleatur os meum laude, ut cantem gloriam tuam, tota die magnitudinem tuam. Denique et eructavit ubi gustavit: Quam magna multitudo dulcedinis tuae, Domine, quam abscondisti timentibus te. Satis hoc osculum detinuit nos, et necdum me illud, ut verum fatear, digne satis expressisse confido. Sed transeamus ad reliqua; quia id melius impressum, quam expressum innotescit.

Sequitur: Quia meliora sunt ubera tua vino, fragrantia unguentis optimis. Et haec verba cuius sint, auctor non loquitur, relinquens nobis libere commentari, cui potissimum personae conveniant. Mihi vero non deest, unde illa congruenter assignem sive sponsae, sive sponso, sive etiam sponsi sodalibus. Et primum sponsae qualiter congruant, indicabo. Interim confabulantibus illa pariter atque illis, accessit ipse, de quo sermo erat. Utique libens appropiat de se loquentibus. Sic solet. Sic euntibus in Emmaus, et conferentibus inter se, iucundum se facundumque exhibuit comitem.

Nempe hoc est quod in Evangelio pollicetur: Ubi duo vel tres congregati fuerint in nomine meo, ego sum in medio eorum; et per prophetam: Antequam, ait, clament, ego exaudiam; et adhuc loquentibus illis dicam: Ecce adsum. Ita ergo nunc non vocatus adfuit, et delectatus verbis praevenit preces. Arbitror quod interdum nec verba exspectat, sed solis cogitationibus advocetur. Denique ait homo qui inventus est secundum cor Dei: Desiderium pauperum exaudivit Dominus, praeparationem cordis eorum audivit auris tua. Attendite et vos vobis in omni loco, scientes quoniam omnia vestra norit, scrutans corda et renes Deus, qui finxit singillatim corda vestra, et intelligit omnia opera vestra. Sponsa ergo sponsum adesse persentiens, substitit (pudet enim praesumptionis in qua se deprehensam intelligit, nam verecundius id moliri per internuntios existimarat); moxque conversa ad ipsum, temeritatem, prout valet, excusare conatur: Quia meliora sunt, inquiens, ubera tua vino, fragrantia unguentis optimis. Ac si dicat: Si altum sapere videor, tu fecisti, o sponse, qui in dulcedine uberum tuorum tanta me dignatione lactasti, quatenus omni metu, tui charitate, non mea temeritate depulso, audeam plus forte quam expediat. Audeo sane pietatis memor, immemor maiestatis.

Haec pro verborum consequentia dictasint.

Nunc qualis sit ista uberum sponsi commendatio, videamus. Duo sponsi ubera, duo in ipso sunt ingenitae mansuetudinis argumenta, quod et patienter exspectat delinquentem, et clementer recipit poenitentem. Gemina, inquam, dulcedo suavitatis exuberat in pectore Domini Iesu, longanimitas videlicet in exspectando, et in donando facilitas. Et audi quia non sit hoc inventum meum. Legis profecto de longanimitate: An divitias bonitatis eius, et patientiae, et longanimitatis contemnis? Item: An ignoras quia benignitas Dei ad poenitentiam te adducit? Ad hoc siquidem diu suspendit sententiam ultionis a contemnente, ut quandoque exhibeat gratiam remissionis in poenitente. Non enim vult mortem peccatoris, sed ut convertatur, et vivat.

Ponamus exempla et de altero ubere, quod dictum est remittendi facilitas. Legis et de ipsa: Quacunque hora ingemuerit peccator, peccatum suum remittetur ei; legis: Derelinquat impius viam suam, et vir iniquus cogitationes suas, et revertatur ad Dominum, et miserebitur eius; et ad Deum nostrum, quoniam multus est ad ignoscendum. Pulchre David paucis comprehendit utrumque, dicens: Longanimis, et multum misericors. Huius ergo geminae bonitatis experimento in eam se fiduciam excrevisse fatetur sponsa, ut auderet petere osculum. Quid mirum, dicens, si sic praesumo de te, o sponse, quae de tuis uberibus tantam sum experta abundantiam suavitatis? Ergo ad audendum me provocat dulcedo uberum tuorum, non meorum confidentia meritorum.

Quod autem dicit: Meliora sunt ubera tua vino, hoc est. Pinguedo gratiae, quae de tuis uberibus fluit, efficacior mihi est ad spiritualem profectum, quam mordax imprecatio praelatorum. Nec solum meliora vino, sed et fragrantia unguentis optimis; quia non modo internae dulcedinis lacte praesentes alis, sed bonae quoque opinionis grato odore respergis absentes, bonum habens testimonium et ab his qui intus, et ab his qui foris sunt. Habes, inquam, lac intus, et foris unguenta; quoniam quidem non essent quos lacte reficeres, si non prius odore attraheres. Sane de his unguentis, si quid dignum consideratione contineant, videbitur post haec, cum eo ventum fuerit, ubi dicit in consequentibus: In odore unguentorum tuorum curremus. Nunc iuxta promissum nostrum haec ipsa verba, quae sponsae data sunt, an et sponso congruant videamus.

Sponsa loquente de sponso, repente, ut dixeram, adest ille, annuit voto, dat osculum, impletque in ea sermonem qui scriptus est: Desiderium cordis eius tribuisti ei, et voluntate labiorum eius non fraudasti eum. Quod et probat ex eius uberum repletione. Tantae nempe efficaciae osculum sanctum est, ut ex ipso mox, cum acceperit illud, sponsa concipiat, tumescentibus nimirum uberibus, et lacte quasi pinguescentibus in testimonium. Quibus studium est orare frequenter, experti sunt quod dico. Saepe corde tepido et arido accedimus ad altare, orationi incumbimus. Persistentibus autem repente infunditur gratia, pinguescit pectus, replet viscera inundatio pietatis; et si sit qui premat, lac conceptae dulcedinis ubertim fundere non tardabunt. Dicat ergo: Habes, sponsa, quod petiisti, et hoc tibi signum, quia meliora facta sunt ubera tua vino. Hinc te scilicet noveris osculum accepisse, quod te concepisse sentis.

Unde et ubera tibi intumuerunt, facta in ubertate lactis meliora vino scientiae saecularis, quae quidem inebriat, sed curiositate, non charitate; implens, non nutriens; inflans, non aedificans; ingurgitans, non confortans.

Sed demus et sodalibus ista depromere. Iniuste, inquiunt, murmuras adversus sponsum; quia id plus valet quod ille iam dedit, quam quod tu petis. Quod enim postulas, te quidem delectat; sed ubera, quibus parvulos alis, quos et paris, meliora, hoc est necessariora, sunt vino contemplationis. Aliud siquidem est quod unius laetificat cor hominis, et aliud quod aedificat multos. Nam etsi Rachel formosior, sed Lia fecundior est. Noli ergo nimis insistere osculis contemplationis; quia meliora sunt ubera praedicationis.

Occurrit et alius sensus, quem quidem non proposueram, sed minime praeteribo. Utquid enim verba haec non magis convenire dicamus eis ipsis, quibus praeest in sollicitudine, tanquam parvulis, mater aut nutrix? Nec enim aequanimiter ferunt iuvenculae et tenerae adhuc animae, illam vacare quieti, cuius plenius erudiri doctrina, et exemplis informari desiderant. An non denique talium in subsequenti compescitur inquietudo, ubi sub gravi contestatione prohibentur suscitare dilectam, quousque ipsa velit? Hae itaque sentientes osculis inhiare sponsam, secretum quaerere sibi, fugitare publicum, declinare turbas, et curae ipsarum propriam praeferre quietem: Noli, inquiunt, noli; quia maior in uberibus quam in amplexibus fructus existit. Per ea siquidem nos vindicas a carnalibus desideriis, quae militant adversus animam; eripis mundo, et acquiris Deo. Hoc ergo est quod aiunt: Quia meliora sunt ubera tua vino. Carnis, inquiunt, voluptatem, qua paulo ante, tanquam vino, ebriae tenebamur, vincunt hae, quas tua nobis ubera stillant, deliciae spirituales.

Et pulchre vino comparant carnalem affectum. Ut enim uva semel expressa non habet iam quod denuo fundat, sed perpetua ariditate damnatur; sic caro in pressura mortis ab omni prorsus sua delectatione siccatur, nec ultra revirescit ad libidines. Unde propheta: Omnis caro fenum, et omnis gloria eius tanquam flos feni. Exsiccatum est fenum, et cecidit flos; et Apostolus; Qui seminat in carne, de carne et metet corruptionem; et rursum: Esca ventri, et venter escis; Deus autem et hunc, et has destruet. Vide autem ne non carni tantum, sed et mundo forte competat ista proportio. Siquidem et ipse transit, et concupiscentia eius: et cum omnia quae in mundo sunt, finem habeant, finis eorum non erit finis. Verum ubera non sic. Haec enim cum exhausta fuerint, rursum de fonte materni pectoris sumunt quod propinent sugentibus.

Merito proinde meliora carnis, saeculive amore asseruntur ubera sponsae, quae nullo unquam lactentium numero arefiunt, sed semper abundant de visceribus charitatis, ut iterum fluant. Flumina siquidem fluunt de ventre eius, fitque in ea fons aquae vivae salientis in vitam aeternam. Cumulatur deinde laus uberum fragrantia unguentorum, quod non solum verborum sapore pascant, sed et factorum opinione redoleant. Iam quae sint ubera, quo tumida lacte, qualibus delibuta unguentis, sub alio sermonis principio Christo adiuvante monstrabimus: qui cum Patre et Spiritu sancto vivit et regnat Deus per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen.

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩Hos.2.7 — For their mother has played the whore; she who conceived them has acted shamefully. For she said, 'I will go after my lovers, who give me my bread and my water, my wool and my flax, my oil and my drink.'
  2. ↩Song.1.2 — Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth, for your love is better than wine.
  3. ↩Song.1.2 — Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth, for your love is better than wine.
  4. ↩Song.1.2 — Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth, for your love is better than wine.
  5. ↩Gen.3.19 — By the sweat of your brow you shall eat bread, until you return to the ground, for from it you were taken; for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.
  6. ↩Hos.10.11 — Ephraim is a trained heifer that loves to thresh, but I have passed over the beauty of her neck. I will make Ephraim plow; Judah will plow for him, and Jacob will break up his ground.
  7. ↩Luke.17.10 — So also you, when you have done all that was commanded you, say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done what we were obligated to do.'
  8. ↩Ps.63.1 — A Psalm of David, when he was in the wilderness of Judah.
  9. ↩Song.1.1 — The Song of Songs, which is Solomon's.
  10. ↩Lev.1.8-Lev.1.9;Ps.63.5 — And the sons of Aaron, the priests, shall arrange the pieces, the head, and the fat on the wood that is on the fire that is on the altar. Lev.1.9 — He shall wash its entrails and its legs with water, and the priest shall burn all of it on the altar as a burnt offering, a pleasing aroma to the LORD. Ps.63.5 — So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands.
  11. ↩Song.1.3 — The fragrance of your oils is good; your name is poured oil; therefore young women love you.
  12. ↩Luke.24.13-Luke.24.35 — And behold, two of them on that same day were going to a village sixty stadia from Jerusalem, called Emmaus. Luke.24.14 — And they were talking with each other about all these things that had happened. Luke.24.15 — And it came to pass, while they were talking and questioning together, that Jesus himself drew near and went with them. Luke.24.16 — But their eyes were kept from recognizing him. Luke.24.17 — And he said to them, "What are these words that you are exchanging with one another as you walk?" And they stood still, looking sad. Luke.24.18 — Then one of them, Cleopas by name, answered him, "Are you the only visitor in Jerusalem who does not know the things that have taken place there in these days?" Luke.24.19 — And he said to them, "What things?" And they said to him, "The things concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a man, a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people." Luke.24.20 — how our chief priests and rulers handed him over to a sentence of death and crucified him. Luke.24.21 — But we had hoped that he was the one who was going to redeem Israel. But even besides all this, today is the third day since these things took place. Luke.24.22 — But also, certain women from among us amazed us; they went to the tomb early in the morning, Luke.24.23 — and when they did not find his body, they came back saying that they had also seen a vision of angels, who said that he is alive. Luke.24.24 — And some of those who were with us went to the tomb and found it just as the women had said, but him they did not see. Luke.24.25 — And he said to them, 'O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!' Luke.24.26 — Was it not necessary for the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into his glory? Luke.24.27 — And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. Luke.24.28 — And they drew near to the village to which they were going, and he made as though he would go farther. Luke.24.29 — And they urged him, saying, "Stay with us, for it is toward evening and the day is now far spent." And he went in to stay with them. Luke.24.30 — And it came to pass, when he was at table with them, he took the bread, blessed it, and broke it, and gave it to them. Luke.24.31 — And their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight. Luke.24.32 — They said to one another, "Was not our heart burning within us while he spoke to us on the road, while he opened to us the Scriptures?" Luke.24.33 — And they got up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, Luke.24.34 — The Lord has truly been raised, and he appeared to Simon. Luke.24.35 — Then they told what had happened on the road, and how he was made known to them in the breaking of the bread.
  13. ↩Matt.18.20 — For where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am among them.
  14. ↩Isa.65.24 — And it shall be that before they call, I will answer; while they are still speaking, I will hear.
  15. ↩Ps.34.6;Ps.33.7 — Look to him and be radiant, and let your faces not be ashamed. Ps.33.7 — He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap; He lays up the deeps in storehouses.
  16. ↩Ps.139.1-Ps.139.4 — O LORD, you have searched me and you know me. Ps.139.2 — You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You discern my thoughts from far away. Ps.139.3 — You have searched out my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. Ps.139.4 — For there is not a word on my tongue, but behold, LORD, you know it altogether.
  17. ↩Song.1.2 — Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth, for your love is better than wine.
  18. ↩Rom.2.4 — Or do you despise the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?
  19. ↩Rom.2.4 — Or do you despise the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?
  20. ↩Isa.55.7 — Let the wicked forsake his way, and the man of iniquity his thoughts; and let him return to the LORD, and He will have mercy on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.
  21. ↩Ps.86.15 — But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.
  22. ↩Ps.103.8 — The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
  23. ↩Song.1.1 — The Song of Songs, which is Solomon's.
  24. ↩Song.1.2 — Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth, for your love is better than wine.
  25. ↩Song.1.3 — The fragrance of your oils is good; your name is poured oil; therefore young women love you.
  26. ↩Song.1.3 — The fragrance of your oils is good; your name is poured oil; therefore young women love you.
  27. ↩Ps.20.3 — May he send you help from the sanctuary, and from Zion sustain you.
  28. ↩Song.1.1 — The Song of Songs, which is Solomon's.
  29. ↩Isa.40.6 — A voice says, "Cry out!" And I said, "What shall I cry?" All flesh is grass, and all its faithfulness is like the flower of the field.
  30. ↩Isa.40.7 — The grass withers, the flower fades, for the breath of the LORD blows upon it; truly, the grass is the people.
  31. ↩Gal.6.8 — For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.
  32. ↩1Cor.6.13 — Food is for the stomach, and the stomach for food — but God will do away with both of them. The body, however, is not for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.
  33. ↩1John.2.17 — And the world is passing away, and its desire; but the one who does the will of God remains forever.
  34. ↩John.7.38 — The one who believes in me, just as the Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within him.
  35. ↩John.4.14 — but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never thirst forever; rather, the water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life
  36. ↩Song.1.3 — The fragrance of your oils is good; your name is poured oil; therefore young women love you.

Notes

  1. 1 ↩The two 'gratias' phrases are paired thanksgifts for lesser intimacies; the adversative 'sed' then presses for the greater — the kiss of the mouth, the fullest union.
  2. 2 ↩'meritis potiora' could be read as 'preferable things by merit' or 'things greater according to merit'; the rendering preserves the ambiguity between what is objectively greater and what is received through merit, without resolving it.
  3. 3 ↩Pinguedo (richness/fatness) is a rare noun used metaphorically for the abundant, nourishing quality of grace; rendered as 'richness' to preserve the sensory metaphor without archaic 'fatness.'
  4. 4 ↩The 'milk of inner sweetness' and 'fragrance of ointments' are allegorical: the Bride's interior life nourishes those near her, while her good reputation draws those at a distance.
  5. 5 ↩The logic is sequential: attraction by outward fragrance precedes inward nourishment by milk. The fragrance of good example draws souls, who are then nourished by interior teaching.
  6. 6 ↩The quotation 'In odore unguentorum tuorum curremus' is from Song of Songs 1:3 (Vulgate); the speaker defers fuller treatment until reaching that verse in the commentary sequence.
  7. 7 ↩The speaker proposes testing whether the attributes ascribed to the Bride (the soul or the Church) also apply to the Bridegroom (Christ), exploring the reciprocal fittingness of the Song's imagery.

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