Sermons on the Song of Songs13 Sermon XIII

Google recogniseth the proud (Ps. cxxxviii. 6). God, O Pharisee, is not mocked. Do you suppose for a moment that you possess anything which you have not received from Him? No, you reply; and therefore I render thanks to my liberal benefactor. If you do not possess anything at all of your own, then there was in you no antecedent merit on account of which you received those things upon the possession of which you boast yourself. If you confess this to be the case, then, in the first place, it is with unjustifiable presumpiion that you exalt yourself above the Publican who does not possess the same [merits as you, only because he has not received them as you have. Farther, take care lest, by not attributing to God wholly and entirely the gifts which He has bestowed, but diverting to yourself some portion of the glory and honour of them, you may not justly be accused of fraud, and fraud towards God. For if you attribute to yourself somewhat of those merits of which you boast, I should suppose that it is because you are yourself deceived rather than that you desire to do an injustice; and it is that error that I would correct. But now, since, by the act of returning thanks, you show that you arrogate nothing to yourself, and that you prudently recognise your merits to be the gifts of God, it is evident that, in despising others, you betray yourself, and show that you speak with a double heart—on the one hand, lending your tongue to a falsehood; on the other, usurping the glory of the truth. For you would not consider the Publican to be an object of scorn in comparison of yourself if you did not suppose that you were worthy of praise in comparison of him. But what do you reply to the Apostle who lays down this rule: To God alone be honour and glory (1 Tim. i. 17, Vulg.)? Or what to the angel who declares and distinguishes what it pleases God to reserve to Himself, and what He deigns to share with men? For he says: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men of goodwill (Luke ii. 14). Do you not see how the Pharisee, in giving thanks—with his lips, indeed—honours God, but in the thought of his heart gives honour to himself? And we see many persons act thus: in their mouths resound words of thanksgiving. But this is by a kind of habit rather than by their true impulse or intention; insomuch that men, even of the most abandoned class, are in the habit of giving thanks to God for their good success, as they think it, in the carrying out of this or that crime or outrage. You hear, for example, a robber, after having carried out an evil plan, and deprived someone of his portmanteau (manipulum), exulting secretly, and saying: ' Thank God, I have not made fruitless watches, nor spent my night to no profit!' Similarly, he who has killed a man, does he not boast of it, and offer his thanksgiving that he has prevailed against his adversary, or avenged himself of his enemy? Even an adulterer, exulting- in his success, thanks God that he has obtained his long-hoped-for pleasure.

3. Not every offering of thanks, therefore, is acceptable to God, but that only which proceeds from a pure and sincere heart. I say pure, because of those who boast themselves of their bad actions, and 4. If Joseph, in Egypt, knew that the house and all the goods of his master had been entrusted to him, he was not ignorant at the same time that his mistress was an exception; and because of this, he would not consent to her, saying: My master hath committed all that he hath to my hand, neither hath he kept back anything from me but thee, because thou art his wife (Gen. xxxix. 9). He knew that the wife is the glory of her husband, and regarded it as a great injustice and a shameful ingratitude to dishonour one uho had loaded him with so many honours. That man, prudent with the wisdom of God, knew that a husband is jealous of his wife as being his own honour, and that she is to be sacredly reserved to him, not passed on to another; nor did he presume to stretch out his hand to that which was not given to him. What then? Shall a man be jealous of his glory, and yet dare to wish to defraud God of His, as if He had no care for it? But hear what God Himself says: I will not give My glory unto another (Is. xlviii. n). What, then, wilt Thou give, O Lord; what wilt Thou bestow upon us? Peace He replies, leave with you; My peace give unto you (John xiv. 27). That is sufficient for me; I gratefully receive that which Thou leavest to me, nor do I grasp at that which Thou reservest. With this [partition I am satisfied and I do not doubt that it is for my advantage. Glory I wholly renounce, lest perchance in usurping what is not granted to me, I justly lose that which is bestowed. Peace I desire; peace I long for, and nothing more. The soul for which peace does not suffice will not find even Thee sufficient. For Thou art our Peace, who hast made both one (Eph. ii. 14). That I should be reconciled with Thee, that I should be reconciled with myself, this is necessary for me; and this is enough. For from the moment that I am set in contrariety to Thee, I am a burden to myself (Job vii. 20). I am on my guard, and do not desire to be either ungrateful for the peace Thou hast bestowed upon me, or a sacrilegious usurper of Thy glory. Let Thy glory, O Lord, remain undiminished to Thee; with me all will be well if I possess peace.

5. When Goliath was overthrown the people rejoiced that they had recovered peace; but to David alone fell the great glory. Joshua, Jephtha, Gideon, Samson, Judith also, though a woman, triumphed gloriously in their day over their enemies; but though the people had the enjoyment of the peace that these heroes had achieved, they did not share with them the glory. Judas Maccabaeus also, a man illustrious by many victories, because he had so often fought valiantly, and thus given peace to his people, did he ever share with them his glory also? 1 There was,' it is said, not great glory, but very great gladness among the people ' (1 Mace. iv. 58). Are the works which the Creator of all things has done less than those due to the great men named, that He should have less ground for a glory all His own and unshared by others? Alone He created all things that exist; alone He triumphed over the enemy; alone He freed the captives, and shall He have a companion in His glory? Mine own Arm He says, brought salvation unto Me; and again: have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there was none with Me (Is. lxiii. 5, 3). What share can I, then, pretend to in the victory, when I had none in the battle? It would be the extremest effrontery in me to claim either glory without victory, or victory without combat But do ye, O mountains, bring peace unto the people (Ps. lxxii. 3); peace unto us, not glory; reserving that to Him alone who alone has fought the battle and gained the victory. Thus, I entreat, thus let it be: Glory to God in the Highest, and on earth peace to men of goodwill. He, however, is not a man of good will, but evidently of very evil will, who is not at all content with peace, but restlessly aspires also to the glory which belongs to God, with an eye of pride and a heart never satisfied; and such a man neither retains peace nor attains glory. Who would believe the wall if it should lay claim to produce the ray of light which is thrown upon it through the window? or who would not laugh to 6. If, then, I discern something in the saints which is worthy of praise and admiration when I examine it in the clear light of truth, I find that though they appear to be admirable and praiseworthy it is another than they who is really so, and praise God in His saints. Take, for example, Elisha, or that great prophet Elijah, each of whom restored the dead to life. It was not by any power of their own, but in the discharge of a ministry committed to them, that they achieved those new and unprecedented marvels; it was God who abode in them and performed those marvellous works. He is invisible and unapproachable by His own Nature, but renders Himself visible and admirable in His saints, and alone admirable, since He alone doth wonderful things (Ps. lxxi. 19). Painting and writing are both arts worthy of praise, yet it is not the pen [or the brush that is to be praised; nor is the glory of an eloquent discourse given to the tongue or the lips which pronounce it. It is time that the Prophet should speak. Shall the axe, he says, boast itself against him that cutteth with it? or shall the saw exalt itself against him by whom it is drawn? as if a rod should lift itself up against him that lifteth it up, and a staff exalt itself which is but wood (Is. x. 15); so is everyone who glorieth against the Lord, unless he glory in the Lord (2 Cor. x. 17). If it be needful for a man to glory, St. Paul teaches us in whom, and in regard to what it should be done. Our glory, he says, is this, the testimony of our conscience (2 Cor. i. 12). I may glory without fear if my conscience bears me witness that I am usurping nothing of the glory of my Creator; assuredly without fear, because I do it not against the Lord but in the Lord. This kind of glorying is not only not forbidden to us, but we are persuaded to employ it, for it is said: Ye receive glory one from another, and the glory which is from God alone you do not seek (John v. 44). In fact, the ability to glory in God alone comes but from God alone. Nor is this glory small, since it hath the Truth for its object, and is therefore true; and, in truth, is so rare that even of the small number of those who are perfect there are but few who possess it perfectly. Leave, then, the sons of men, who are vain, who are untruthful: leave them by vanity to deceive each other (Ps. lxi. 10). For he who glories wisely will strictly prove his work, to examine it diligently by the light of truth; and so he shall have glory in himself, and not in the mouth of another. Foolish am I if I shall have confided my glory to the vessel of your lips, and so be obliged to beg it of you when I would obtain it. For thus it would be in your power to approve or to disapprove of me at your will. But in retaining [this in my own power I preserve it for myself 1 In some MSS. not is wanting.

7. Brethren, if you know and feel these truths let none of you desire to be praised in this world, because every honour which you reach after and obtain in this life, and which you do not refer to God, is a theft from Him of which you are guilty. What ground have you for glorying, what ground, I repeat, you who art decaying dust? Is it the sanctity of your life? But it is the Spirit that sanctifieth; and when I say spirit' I mean not your spirit, but the Spirit of God. Even though you should be renowned for signs and wonders, they are performed by your hand indeed, but by the power of God only. Or does the popular favour attend you, because you have, perhaps, spoken something good in itself, or elegantly worded? But it was Christ who bestowed upon you a mouth and wisdom. For what is your tongue but as the pen of the writer? And this very thing you have received only as a loan; it is a talent entrusted to you to be returned with usury. If you are found untiring in the work committed to you, faithful in bringing forth fruit [of the grace of God], you shall receive a reward for your labour. But if it be otherwise the talent shall be taken from you—its interest being required, nevertheless—and you shall be called a wicked and slothful servant. Every praise, therefore, on account of good actions, and of the manifold graces which are made apparent in you, is to be referred to Him who is the Author and Giver of all that is good and laudable. And these must be referred to Him, not in appearance only, as is the wont of hypocrites, or as a matter of form and custom, as by those who are worldly [secularibus, people in the world], nor even by a kind of necessity, as beasts of burden are obliged to bear their loads, but as it becometh saints, with faithful sincerity, with careful devotion, with grateful but restrained and moderated cheerfulness. Therefore, while offering to Him the sacrifice of praise, and performing our vows from day to day, let us endeavour, with all the watchfulness in our power, to join intelligence to our accustomed service, fervour to our intelligence, gladness to our fervour, gravity to our gladness, humility to our gravity, freedom of spirit to our humility, so that in the meantime we may go forward with the free steps of a mind purified from evil passions, and pass, in a sense, out of ourselves by the extraordinary fervour of our desires and affections, to feel spiritual joys and gladsome delights, to dwell in the light of God, in the ineffable sweetness of the Holy Ghost, and may show that we are of those whom the Prophet had in view when he said: They shall walk, O Lord, in the 8. But perhaps someone will say to me: What you say is good, but it would be still better, that you should continue to speak of your precise subject Wait a little, I reply; I am not unmindful of it. Have we not taken in hand to expound these words: Thy Name is as oil poured forth This is our subject; this our endeavour. I leave you to judge whether the preliminary observations which I have made were necessary. Now, listen to these few words, in which I will show that they are not unconnected with the subject. Do you not remember that in treating of the bosom of the Spouse, the last thing referred to was the sweetness of the perfumes it exhaled? What, then, follows more clearly than that the Spouse should recognise that this same fragrance is to be attributed to the gift of her Bridegroom, that she may not be thought to arrogate it to herself? Now, you know well that all I have said tends towards that object. ' The fragrance/ she says, * which is exhaled from me, and which renders my perfume pleasing, I ascribe not to my own efforts, or my own merits, but acknowledge that it is due to Thy bounty, O my Bridegroom; Thou whose adorable Name is as oil poured out.' Thus much for the sense of the text.

9. As to the explanation of the verse, which has given me the occasion to speak to you at such length on the detestable vice of ingratitude, it requires another occasion, and the commencement of another sermon. At present it is sufficient for me to suggest to you one reflection. If the Bride does not venture to attribute anything to herself of all her virtues, and of ail her graces, how much less should maidens young and untried? and with these we may, so to speak, compare ourselves. Let us, then, in conclusion, follow the footprints of the Bride, and say with her: Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us; but unto Thy Name five glory (Ps. cxv. 1). Let us say it, not with tongue and in word only, but in deed and in truth, lest (which I greatly fear) those words should be spoken of us also: They loved Him with their mouth, and with their heart they lied unto Him: but their heart was not right with Him, nor were they counted faithful in His covenant (Ps. lxxvii. 36, 37). Let us say it, then, let us say it, with a voice that comes rather from the depths of the heart, than merely from the lips: Save us, O Lord our God, and gather us from among the nations, that we may give thanks to Thy Holy Name (not, observe, to our own), and may glory (not in our own praise, but) in Thy praise (Ps. cv. 47) for ever and ever. Amen.

1 Cf. Virgil, yEneid, Bk. vi. 129. But the coincidence of phrase is perhaps unintended and fortuitous.—Ed.