Canción XXXII

Annotation of the following song The power and persistence of love are great, for it takes even God himself captive and binds him; blessed is the soul that loves, for she holds God as her prisoner, surrendered to whatever she may wish—because his nature is such that if he is led by love and kindness, they will make him do whatever they wish, and if they try any other way, there is no reasoning with him and no power over him, even if they go to extremes; but by love they will bind him with a single hair.¹² Knowing this, and knowing that far beyond her merits he has shown her such great favors—raising her to so high a love with such rich pledges of gifts and virtues—the soul attributes it all to him in the song that follows.³⁴ When you looked at me, your eyes imprinted His grace in me; that is why you loved me so deeply, and in that, my eyes deserved to adore what they saw in you.⁵ Explanation It belongs to perfect love not to want to admit or take anything for itself, nor to claim anything as its own, but to give everything to the Beloved; for this is found even in base loves, how much more in the love of God, where reason binds us so strongly. And so, because in the two previous songs it seems the bride was claiming something for herself—saying, for example, that she would make the garlands together with the Bridegroom, woven with her hair, which is a work of no small moment and worth, and afterward saying and glorying that the Bridegroom had been captivated by her hair and wounded by her eye, in which she also seems to claim great merit for herself—she now wants, in the present song, to declare her intention and clear up the misunderstanding that can be taken from this, careful and afraid lest any worth and merit be credited to her, and God therefore be credited with less than he is due and than she desires, attributing everything to him; and thanking him at the same time, she tells him that the reason he was captivated by the hair of her love and wounded by the eye of her faith was that he had shown her the mercy of looking on her with love, by which he made her graceful and pleasing to himself; and that through that grace and worth she received from him, she merited his love and had worth in herself to worship her Beloved in a way that pleased him and to do works worthy of his grace and love; and so she says:⁶ When you looked at me. That is, with an affection of love; because we've already said that here God's looking is loving. Your eyes imprinted their grace in me. By the Bridegroom's eyes, he means here his merciful divinity, which, bending toward the soul with mercy, imprints and pours into her his love and grace. With these, He beautifies her and lifts her so high that He makes her a consort of that same divinity. And the soul, seeing the dignity and exaltation in which God has set her, says:^✦ That's why you loved me so intensely.⁷ To love intensely means to love a great deal; it's more than simply loving; it's like loving twice over—that is, for two reasons or causes. And so in this verse, the soul reveals the two motives and causes for the Bridegroom's love for her: he not only loved her, captivated by her hair, but loved her intensely, wounded by her eye. She says in this verse that the reason he loved her so intensely in this intimate way was that by looking at her, he wanted to give her grace so that he could delight in her—giving her the love of her hair and shaping the faith of her eye with his charity. And so she says, "That is why you loved me so intensely." For when God places his grace in the soul, he makes her worthy and capable of his love. And so it's like saying: because you had placed your grace in me—pledges worthy of your love—that's why you loved me so intensely; that is, that's why you gave me more grace. This is what Saint John says: Dat gratiam pro gratia—that is, he gives grace for the grace he has already given, which means giving more grace; because without grace one cannot merit his grace. For understanding this, it should be noted that God, just as he loves nothing outside himself, so loves nothing more highly than himself, because he loves everything for his own sake; and so love has the character of an end, which is why he does not love things for what they are in themselves.⁸ Therefore, for God to love the soul is, in a sense, to place her within himself, making her equal to himself; and so he loves the soul in himself, with himself, with the same love he loves himself; and that is why, in every work, insofar as she does it in God, the soul merits God's love; because, placed in this grace and exaltation, in every work she merits God himself.⁹¹⁰ And that's why she goes on to say: And in that, they earned merit. That is, in this favor and grace that the eyes of your mercy worked in me when you looked at me, making me pleasing to your eyes and worthy of being seen by you, they merited^✦¹¹ my eyes to adore what they saw in you.¹² That's as much as to say: the powers of my soul, my Bridegroom—the eyes through which You can be seen by me—deserved to rise and look at You, though before, in the misery of their lowly working and natural capacity, they were fallen and low; because for the soul to be able to look at God is to do works in God's grace; and so the soul's powers earned merit in their adoring, because they were adoring in the grace of their God, and in that grace every work is meritorious. So, enlightened and lifted by his grace and favor, they were adoring what they already saw in him—which before, because of their blindness and lowliness, they did not see. What, then, was it that they already saw? It was greatness of virtues, abundance of sweetness, immense goodness, God's love and mercy, and countless blessings they had received from him—both in this state so close to God and when they were not; all this the eyes of the soul now deserved to adore with merit, because they were already in grace and pleasing to the Bridegroom; whereas before, they not only did not deserve to adore or see, but not even to consider anything of God; because great is the dullness and blindness of the soul that is without his grace.¹³ There's much here to notice and much to grieve over: seeing how far a soul that isn't illumined by the love of God is from doing what she's bound to do. For though she's obliged to know these and other things, and the countless favors—temporal as well as spiritual—that she's received from him and receives at every step, and to adore and serve God with all her powers for them without ceasing, she not only fails to do it, but she doesn't even deserve to look at him and know him, nor does she take account of it. That's how far the misery of those who live extends—or better said, of those who are dead in sin.^✦

Read the original Spanish

Anotación de la canción siguiente

Grande es el poder y la porfía del amor, pues al mismo Dios prenda y liga; dichosa el alma que ama, pues tiene a Dios por prisionero, rendido a todo lo que ella quisiere; porque tiene tal condición, que, si le llevan por amor y por bien, le harán hacer cuanto quisieren, y si de otra manera, no hay hablar ni poder con él, aunque hagan extremos; pero por amor en un cabello le ligarán. Lo cual, conociendo el alma, y que muy fuera de sus méritos le ha hecho tan grandes mercedes de levantarla a tan alto amor con tan ricas prendas de dones y virtudes, se lo atribuye todo a él en la canción siguiente.

Cuando tú me mirabas, Su gracia en mí tus ojos imprimían; Por eso me adamabas, Y en eso merecían Los míos adorar lo que en ti vían.

DECLARACIÓN

Es propiedad del amor perfecto no querer admitir ni tomar nada para sí, ni atribuirse a sí nada, sino todo al Amado; que esto aun en los amores bajos lo hay, cuanto más en el de Dios, donde tanto obliga la razón. Y por tanto, porque en las dos canciones pasadas parece se atribuía a sí alguna cosa la esposa, tal como decir que ella juntamente con el Esposo haría las guirnaldas tejidas con el cabello de ella, lo cual es obra no de poco momento y estima, y después decir y gloriarse que el Esposo se había prendado de su cabello y llagado en su ojo, en lo cual parece también atribuirse a sí misma gran merecimiento, quiere ahora en la presente canción declarar su intención y deshacer el engaño que en esto se puede entender, con cuidado y temor no se le atribuya a ella algún valor y merecimiento, y por eso se le atribuya a Dios menos de lo que se le debe y ella desea, atribuyéndolo todo a él; y regraciándose juntamente, le dice que la causa de prenderse él del cabello de su amor y llagarse del ojo de su fe fue por haberle hecho él la merced de mirarla con amor, con que la hizo graciosa y agradable a sí mismo; y que por esa gracia y valor que de él recibió, mereció su amor y tener valor ella en sí para adorar agradablemente a su Amado y hacer obras dignas de su gracia y amor; y así, dice:

Cuando tú me mirabas.

Es a saber, con afecto de amor; porque ya dijimos que aquí el mirar de Dios es amar.

Su gracia en mí tus ojos imprimían.

Por los ojos del Esposo entiende aquí su divinidad misericordiosa; la cual, inclinándose al alma con misericordia, imprime e infunde en ella su amor y gracia, con que la hermosea y levanta tanto, que la hace consorte de la misma divinidad; y dice el alma, viendo la dignidad y alteza en que Dios la ha puesto:

Por eso me adamabas.

Adamar es amar mucho, es más que amar simplemente, es como amar duplicadamente, esto es, por dos títulos o causas; y así, en este verso da a entender el alma los dos motivos y causas del amor que el Esposo le tiene, por los cuales, no sólo la amaba, prendado en su cabello, más que la adamaba, llagando en su ojo. La causa por que la adamó de esta manera tan estrecha dice ella en este verso que era porque él quiso con mirarla darle gracia para agradarse de ella, dándole el amor de su cabello, informando con su caridad la fe de su ojo; y así, dice: «Por eso me adamabas». Porque poner Dios en el alma su gracia es hacerla digna y capaz de su amor; y así, es tanto como decir: porque habías puesto en mí tu gracia, que eran prendas dignas de tu amor, por eso me adamabas, esto es, por eso me dabas más gracia. Que es lo que dice San Juan: Dat gratiam pro gratia; que quiere decir, da gracia por la gracia que ha dado, que es dar más gracia; porque sin gracia no se puede merecer su gracia.

Es de notar, para inteligencia de esto, que Dios, así como no ama cosa fuera de sí, así ninguna cosa ama más altamente que a sí, porque todo lo ama por sí; y así, el amor tiene la razón del fin, de donde no ama las cosas por lo que ellas son en sí. Por tanto, amar Dios al alma es meterla en cierta manera en sí mismo, igualándola consigo; y así, ama al alma en sí consigo, con el mismo amor que él se ama; y por eso en cada obra, por cuanto, la hace en Dios, merece el alma el amor de Dios; porque, puesta en esta gracia y alteza, en cada obra merece al mismo Dios. Y por eso dice luego:

Y en eso merecían.

Es a saber, en este favor y gracia que los ojos de tu misericordia me hicieron cuando me mirabas, haciéndome agradable a tus ojos y digna de ser vista de ti, merecieron

Los míos adorar lo que en ti vían.

Que es como decir, las potencias de mi alma, Esposo mío, que son los ojos con que de mí puedes ser visto, merecieron levantarse a mirarte, las cuales antes con la miseria de su baja operación y caudal natural estaban caídas y bajas; porque poder mirar el alma a Dios es hacer obras en gracia de Dios; y así, merecían las potencias del alma en el adorar, porque adoraban en gracia de su Dios, en la cual toda operación es meritoria. Adoraban, pues, alumbrados y levantados con su gracia y favor, lo que en él ya veían, lo cual antes, por su ceguera y bajeza no veían. ¿Qué era, pues, lo que ya veían? Era grandeza de virtudes, abundancia de suavidad, bondad inmensa, amor y misericordia de Dios, y beneficios inumerables que de él había recibido, así en este estado tan allegado a Dios como cuando no lo estaba; todo esto merecían adorar ya con merecimiento los ojos del alma, porque estaban ya graciosos y agradables al Esposo; lo cual antes, no sólo no merecían adorar ni ver, pero ni aun considerar de Dios algo; porque es grande la rudeza y ceguera del alma que está sin su gracia.

Mucho hay aquí que notar y mucho de que se doler, ver cuán fuera está de hacer lo que es obligada el alma que no está ilustrada con el amor de Dios; porque, estando ella obligada a conocer estas y otras cosas e innumerables mercedes, así temporales como espirituales, que de él ha recibido y a cada paso recibe, y adorar y servir con todas sus potencias a Dios por ellas sin cesar no sólo no lo hace, mas aun ni mirarlo y conocerlo merece ni cae en la cuenta de ello; que hasta aquí llega la miseria de los que viven, o por mejor decir, que están muertos en pecado.

Scripture echoes

↩2Pet.1.4 — Through these he has granted to us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.
↩Gen.6.8 — But Noah found favor in the eyes of the LORD.
↩Eph.2.1;Col.2.13 — And you, though dead in your trespasses and sins, Col.2.13 — And you, who were dead in your trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, he made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses.

Notes

1 ↩porfía rendered as 'persistence' (love's insistent striving); alternatives include 'insistence' or 'stubborn force'.
2 ↩en un cabello: 'with a single hair' preserves the Song of Songs captive-love image; not mere hyperbole for 'by a hair's breadth'.
3 ↩mercedes rendered as 'favors' (bestowed mercies/graces); 'mercies' is also faithful if a more formal tone is preferred.
4 ↩prendas: 'pledges'/'tokens' here means the rich tokens of gifts and virtues by which love binds; same root as prenda ('takes captive') in s1.
5 ↩Archaic Spanish adamar means to love with intense, cherishing love; rendered as "loved me so deeply" to keep that force without archaic diction.
6 ↩"regraciándose" rendered as "thanking him"; the bride returns thanks while redirecting all credit to God.
7 ↩Spanish adamabas (from adamar) means more than ordinary amar: to love greatly, as if doubly. Rendered here as loved…so intensely; the next section spells out the double-cause sense.
8 ↩Spanish «tiene la razón del fin» is scholastic: love has the formal character (ratio) of an end/final cause, not merely a psychological motive.
9 ↩«ama al alma en sí consigo» rendered as "loves the soul in himself, with himself," preserving the double locative/comitative density of the Spanish mystical formula.
10 ↩Source punctuation «por cuanto, la hace» has a slightly awkward comma; sense taken as «por cuanto la hace en Dios» — "inasmuch as she does it in God."
11 ↩merecieron hangs at a section break; its complement continues in the next section (Los míos adorar...). Subject is los ojos de tu misericordia.
12 ↩Los míos elliptically resumes the bride’s eyes (ojos) from the stanza and from the preceding merecieron; English supplies eyes for sense while keeping the infinitive continuation.
13 ↩Spanish 'graciosos' here means filled with / acting in grace, not merely socially gracious; rendered as 'in grace'.

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