Sermons on the Song of Songs45 Sermon XLV. Of the twofold beauty of the soul: how the soul speaks to God the Word, and the Word to the soul, and what language they employ
Sermon XLV. Of the twofold beauty of the soul: how the soul speaks to God the Word, and the Word to the soul, and what language they employ
1 Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair; thou hast doves' eyes.'—Cant. i. 15.
How beautifully, how exquisitely is all this spoken! From the love of the Bride comes her presumption, from that of the Bridegroom His anger. This is shown by the issue of the matter; for reproof has followed presumption, amendment reproof, and recompense amendment. The Beloved One only is present, the master is withdrawn, the king disappears, dignity is put off, reverence laid aside; for where affection is perfect and strong, ther£ pride gives 2. Let us inquire, then, what is the twofold beauty of the soul; for it is that which seems to me to be referred to here. Now, the beauty of the soul is humility. I do not say this of myself, a prophet has said it before me: Thou shalt wash me with hyssop, and I shall be clean (Ps. li. 7); signifying the humility of the heart by that herb, which is lowly and of a purifying nature. The writer, who was both king and prophet, having fallen into a grave offence, expresses in these words his good hope that he shall be cleansed, and thus recover his former whiteness of innocence. But the humility of one who has deeply offended, though it may be loved, yet it cannot be admired. But if one who has preserved innocence joins with it humility, does he not seem to you to possess a twofold beauty of the soul? St. Mary lost not holiness, and yet was not wanting in humility. Therefore it was that *the King desired her beauty* because she joined humility to innocence; for, as she herself says: He hath regarded the humility of His handmaid (Luke i. 48, Douay). Blessed are they who have kept undefiled their vestments (Rev. iii. 4)—that is to say, their simplicity and their innocence, if they are careful also to be clad in the beauty of humility. Assuredly the soul that is found to be such shall hear the words addressed to her: Behold, thou art fair, My love; behold, thou art fair. May I, O Lord Jesus, hear Thee say but once to my soul: Behold, thou art fair. Do Thou [reserve for me, at least, my humility, for I have ill-kept my first robe of innocence]. I am Thy servant. I do not dare to profess myself Thy friend, for I do not hear Thy repeated testimony to my spiritual fairness. Even to hear it once is sufficient for me. But what shall I do if even that be in question? I know what I will do: I, being a servant, will venerate Thy friend (amicam); being but a man deformed and dwarfish, I will dwell in admiration on her perfect beauty; I will rejoice at the voice of the Bridegroom, who Himself admires a fairness so great. Who knows whether I may not at least find grace in the eyes of that friend, that by her favour even I may be found among the number of His friends? For the friend of the Bridegroom remains in silence, yet rejoices greatly because of the Bridegroom's voice. This is His Voice in the ear of the Beloved; let us hear it THE TWOFOLD BEAUTY OF THE SOUL and be glad. They are in each other's presence, they are conversing together; let us, too, pause and listen; let no care of this world, no allurement of the flesh, withdraw us from that sacred colloquy.
3. Behold, thou art fair, My love; behold, thou art fair. Behold expresses admiration, the rest praise. It is with reason that she is admired, because she has not adopted humility after the loss of holiness, and on account of it, but has retained it while remaining holy. And rightly, too, is she twice over called beautiful, since neither kind of beauty is wanting to her. It is a rare being (avis) upon the earth who has not lost innocence, or in whom sanctity, if retained, does not exclude humility; and therefore happy is she who has retained both the one and the other. That she has done so is proved, inasmuch as though conscious of no fault, she does not reject the reproof of the Bridegroom. We, even when we have committed great faults, scarcely suffer ourselves to be reproved; but she, even when she has done no wrong, listens meekly to bitter words addressed to her. For if she desires to behold the glory of her Bridegroom, that is no fault, but rather a ground for praise. And yet when she is blamed she repents, and says: A bundle of myrrh is my Beloved unto me; He shall lie between my breasts, which is as if she said: * That is sufficient for me: I desire to know none but Jesus, and Him crucified.' How great is this humility! Though innocent in every act, she takes upon her the feeling of the penitent, and though she has nothing to repent of, yet she is able to repent. ' Why, then/ you ask, ' is she chidden, if she has done no wrong?' But now listen to the prudence of the Bridegroom, and the dispensation of His grace. For as formerly the obedience of Abraham was tried and made proof of, so now is it with the humility of the Bride. And just as he, when his obedience was complete, heard these words spoken to him: Now I know that thou fearest God (Gen. xxii. 12), so in like manner, though in other words, it is said to the Bride, ' I know now that thou art humble for that is the significance of what He says: Behold, thou art fair. And He repeats the commendation, to show that the beauty of humility is added to the glory of holiness. * Now I know that thou art fair, not only by the love which I feel for thee, but also by thy humility. I say not now that thou art fairest among women, I praise not thy beauty of cheeks or of neck, as I did aforetime but I say simply, not in comparison of others, not in part, or with a qualification, but simply that thou art fair' 4. And He adds: Thou hast the eyes of doves. Plainly He is still continuing the praise of humility. For He sees that, being blamed and checked for placing so high her researches, she at once, and without delay, lowers them to things simpler, so as to say: A bundle of myrrh is my Beloved unto me. There is no doubt a great difference between a Countenance full of glory and a bundle of myrrh, and therefore it is a great mark of humility to suffer the being recalled from the one and to the other. Thus, to say: Thou hast the eyes of doves signifies: * No longer dost thou hold converse with great matters, 5. Or it may be that, because the Holy Spirit appeared in the form of a dove (Matt. iii. 16), it is rather a spiritual vision than a simplicity of vision that is here commended under the term * dovelike/ If you approve of this supposition, it will be necessary to refer the verse before us to that which was spoken before by the companions of the Bridegroom, when they promised to her pendants of gold, with no intention, as I warned you at the time, of adorning the ears of the body, but rather of developing and training the spiritual hearing. And by this means it follows that, having the heart more completely purified by faith, which cometh by hearing, she is rendered more capable of discerning that which before was beyond her powers. And as by the receiving of these (symbolical) pendants she has obviously obtained an increased power of vision for the discerning of spiritual things, so she has also become pleasing to the Bridegroom, whose preference it is always (as far as relates to Himself) to be contemplated in a spiritual manner. Therefore He numbers this among her praises, and declares: Thy eyes are those of doves. Now thou regardest Me, He says, in the spirit, since Christ the Lord is as a spirit before thy face (Lam. iv. 20). Thou art able to do this, because thou hast dove's eyes. Before thou hadst not this power, and so incurred rebuke; now thou mayst behold me as thou wilt, because thou hast a spiritual vision, the eyes of the Dove. This, indeed, is not the grace for which thou madest petition, for not even now art thou capable of that; but this shall suffice thee for the present. Behold Me now to the utmost of thy powers, and as these augment, thou shalt behold Me more clearly; for assuredly, thou shalt be led on from glory to glory (Ps. lxxxiv. 7).
6. I do not think, brethren—I repeat, I do not think—that this Vision, which alone belongs to the present, is either mediocre or common to all, though it be inferior to that which shall one day be enjoyed. This may be inferred from the words which follow, for she goes on to say: Behold thou art fairy my Belowd. Now, consider the greatness and high elevation of a soul which claims the right to call Him, who is the Lord of the whole world, her Beloved. For notice that she does not even say simply Beloved but my Beloved to show that she had a right to call Him hers. Assuredly this Vision of Christ must be august and privileged, which confers upon the soul such con- fidence and authority that it regards the Lord of all, not as her Lord, but as her Beloved. For I suppose that in this instance there is not at all presented to the soul any defined image of the bodily form of Christ, or of the likeness of our weak flesh, or even of His Cross, for in these respects, according to the prophet, He hath no form nor come- 1 See Serm. XLL, nn. 2-4.
■s.
The TWOFOLD BEAUTY OF THE SOUL liness (Is. liii. 2). But that she, beholding Him, now pronounces Him fair and comely, shows that He appeared to her by means of a nobler vision, for the Bridegroom speaks to the Bride face to face, as once He spake to Moses (Exod. xxxiii. 11), and she beholds God clearly, not by symbols and types. Thus, beholding Him in the spirit, by a vision sweet and sublime, she declares Him to be such as in her vision she sees Him to be. Her eyes have seen the King in His beauty; yet not as King, but as her Beloved. One prophet beheld Him upon His throne, high and lifted up (Isa. vi. 1), and of another it is testified that he saw God face to face, and his life was preserved (Gen. xxxii. 30); yet it seems to me that the Bride surpasses both, in that we read that the Lord was beheld by her, and that He was her Beloved. But He says: If I be the Lord, where is My fear? (Mai. i. 6). If, then, to them this revelation was attended with fear, for where the Lord is there fear must be [to those who behold Him], I certainly, if the choice were given to me, would prefer the vision of the Bride, and that with so much more willingness and gladness, as I perceive that it is the occasion of a nobler feeling, that is, love. For fear hath torment, but perfect love casteth out fear (1 John iv. 18). Great is the difference between [the Lord appearing terrible in His doings toward the children of men (Ps. lxvi. 5) and His appearing fairer than the children of men (Ps. xlv. 2). Behold Thou art fair, my Beloved, yea, pleasant I These words express affection, not fear.
7. But perhaps thoughts arise in your heart, and you ask doubtfully: ' By what means can the words of the Word, spoken to the soul, and again those of the soul to the Word, be rendered audible, so that the soul should hear the Voice of Him that speaks to her, and praises her as fair, and should pour forth in turn her tribute to Him who has praised her? How can that take place? For it is not the word which speaks, but we speak by the word. Also the soul has no means of speech, except by the words which the bodily organs articulate for her for that purpose.' A very reasonable inquiry; but consider that it is the spirit which speaks, and that [the speaking as well as the things spoken are to be spiritually understood. As often, then, as you hear or read that the Word and the soul behold each other or converse together, do not imagine that they behold visible bodily forms, or that audible words pass from one to the other. This is what you ought rather to think. The Word is Spirit; the soul is a spirit also; they have faculties [linguas of their own for indicating their presence, and for communicating the one with the other. The tongue of the Word is the favour of His condescension that of the soul is the fervour of its devotion. The soul which has no devotion is like an infant and speechless, and to such an one no discourse with the Word is possible. Therefore when the Word wishes to speak to the soul, and thus moves His tongue, the soul cannot but hear, for the Word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul atid spirit (Heb. iv. 12). And, again, when the soul thus addresses the Word, He cannot possibly be unconscious of it; not only because He is everywhere present, but still more and especially because the tongue of devotion is never stirred to speak, except by an impulse from Him.
8. Therefore for the Word to call a soul beloved, and say to it, thou art fair, is to pour upon it the grace which shall enable it to love, and to know itself loved. In like manner, when the soul in turn names the Word her Beloved and speaks of Him as full of beauty, it is that she ascribes to Him, without fiction or disguise, the grace that she has to love Him and to be loved by Him; it is that she admires His condescension, and wonders at the greatness of His grace. Indeed, His fairness consists in His love, and that is the greater because it was the earlier (praveniens). For this reason it is that she cries in the depths of her heart, and with all the powers of her strongest affections, that she is bound to love Him, and with so much stronger an affection, because He first loved her. Therefore the speech of the Word is an infusion of grace, and the response of the soul is the giving of thanks and glory. She loves so much the more ardently, because she feels that the affection of her Spouse surpasses her own, and her admiration is the greater, because that affection preceded hers. On that account it is that she is not content with saying once that He is full of beauty; she repeats her praise in order to heighten it by repetition.
9. Or perhaps that double phrase may be explained as applying to the two Natures in Christ—in the one the beauty of nature, in the other that of grace. How beautiful art Thou to Thy Angels, O Lord Jesus, in the Form of God, in Thy Eternal Nature, begotten before the morning star, in the splendour of Thy saints, who art Thyself the Form and Splendour of the Substance of the Father, in whom the glory and brightness of life eternal are resplendent from everlasting! How august art Thou to me also, O my Lord, when I contemplate Thee in that state of glory which is Thine! Even when Thou didst empty Thyself of Thy glory, when Thou layedst down the rays of splendour proper to that unfailing Light, even then Thy kindness shone the more brightly, Thy charity was more conspicuous, Thy grace the more radiant. O Star out of Jacob, how beautiful Thou art unto me in Thy rising (Num. xxiv. 17); O Branch springing out of the stem of Jesse (Is. xi. t), how bright is Thy Flower; O Dayspring from on High, in what joyful light hast Thou visited me, who sat in darkness! (Luke i. 78). What an object of admiration and wonder is He, even to the heavenly Virtues, in His Conception by the Holy Ghost, in His Birth of the Virgin Mary, in the spotless innocence of His Life, in the flowing streams of His doctrine, in the glistering brightness of His miracles, in the mysteries revealed by His Sacraments! In what blaze of glory dost Thou rise, O Sun of Righteousness, from the heart of the earth, after Thy setting [in death! In what a resplendent vesture (Is. lxiii. 1), O King of glory, dost Thou enter again the highest heaven! At the sight of all these marvels, how can I do otherwise than cry, All my bones shall say, Lord, who is like unto thee f (Ps. xxxv. 10).
10. Believe, then, that the Bride, in beholding her Beloved, saw these and similar excellences in Him when she said: Behold, Thou art fair, my love; behold, Thou art fair. Nor is it these only, but without doubt some other wonder of the beauty of the higher nature which she had remarked, which transcends our capacity of knowledge, and lies altogether beyond our experience. That repetition points out, then, the perfection of Jesus in each of His two Natures. Hear also how, transported with the sight and at the words of her Beloved, she leaps, as it were, with joy, and sings before Him a nuptial song, full of tender and loving sentiments: Our bed is flourishing; the beams of our houses are of cedar, our rafters of cypress (i. 16, Douay). But let us reserve that song of the Bride for another beginning in a newer day; so that, being rendered more willing and active by repose, we may the more readily be glad and rejoice with her, to the praise and glory of her Bridegroom, Jesus Christ our Lord, who is above all, God blessed for ever. Amen.
of the state and composition of the whole church, also of the manner in which, by an active life spent under obedience, the life of contemplation may be attained.
' Our bed is flourishing; the beams of our houses are of cedar our rafters of cypress*—Cant. i. 16.
His is an Epithalamium she is singing; and she describes in graceful phrase the nuptial chamber and bed. She invites the Bridegroom to repose; for, indeed, it is better for her to rest and be with Christ. It is only for the sake of saving souls that it is necessary for her to go forth. But now, believing that she has found a suitable opportunity, she announces that the chamber is decked; she points out the couch, as it were, with the finger; she invites, as I have said, the beloved one to rest there; and, like the Apostles going to Emmaus, not being able to endure the fire of love burning within her heart, she constrains Him to accept the hospitality of mind and soul, to abide with her for the night (Luke xxiv. 29, 32), and says with Peter: Lord, it is good for us to be here (Matt. xvii. 4).
2. Let us now inquire what is the spiritual significance of all these things. First, it refers to the Church. And I consider that the bed' upon which rest is taken means the monasteries and cloisters in which a quiet and peaceable life is passed, exempt from the cares and inquietudes of the world. That bed is said to be decked or adorned, because the life and appointed course of the brethren is adorned and rendered bright by the examples and precepts of our fathers, as if bedecked with fragrant flowers. By ' houses' we are to
1. Ecce tu pulchra es, amica mea, ecce tu pulchra; oculi tui columbarum. Pulchre, optime, ex amore, sponsae praesumptio; ex amore, indignatio sponsi. Hoc rei exitus probat. Etenim praesumptionem correptio, correptionem emendatio, emendationem remuneratio secuta est. Adest dilectus, amovetur magister, rex disparet, dignitas exuitur, reverentia ponitur. Cedit quippe fastus, ubi invalescit affectus. Et sicut quondam quasi amicus ad amicum Moyses loquebatur, et Dominus respondebat: ita et nunc inter Verbum et animam, ac si inter duos vicinos, familiaris admodum celebratur confabulatio. Nec mirum. Ex uno amoris fonte utrique influit diligere invicem, confoveri pariter. Ergo dulciora melle volant hinc inde verba, mutui in se totius suavitatis feruntur aspectus, sancti indices amoris. Denique is iilam amicam nuncupat, pulchram pronuntiat, pulchram iterat, eadem ab illa vicissim recipiens. Nec otiosa iteratio, quae amoris confirmatio est, et fortassis aliquid innuit requirendum.
2. Quaeramus geminam animae pulchritudinem: hoc enim mihi videtur innuere. Decor animae humilitas est. Non a me ipso hoc dico, cum propheta prior dixerit: Asperges me hyssopo, et mundabor; humili herba et pectoris purgativa humilitatem significans. Hac se post gravem lapsum rex et propheta lavari confidit, et sic niveum quemdam innocentiae recuperare candorem. Verum in eo qui graviter peccavit, etsi amanda, non tamen admiranda humilitas. At si quis innocentiam retinet, et nihilominus humilitatem jungit, nonne is tibi videtur geminum animae possidere decorem? Sancta Maria sanctimoniam non amisit, et humilitate non caruit: et ideo concupivit Rex decorem ejus, quia humilitatem innocentiae sociavit; denique: Respexit, inquit, humilitatem ancillae suae. Ergo beati qui custodiunt vestimenta sua munda, videlicet simplicitatis et innocentiae, si tamen et decorem induere humilitatis adjiciant. Profecto audiet quae hujusmodi invenitur: Ecce tu pulchra es, amica mea, ecce tu pulchra. Utinam vel semel dicas animae meae, Domine Jesu: Ecce tu pulchra es. Utinam mihi humilitatem custodias! nam primam vestem ego male servavi. Servus tuus sum ego. Nec enim audeo profiteri amicum, qui testimonium decoris mei cum repetitione non audio. Sufficit mihi si semel audiam. Sed quid, si et hoc in quaestione sit? Scio quid faciam: venerabor amicam servus, cumulatum in ea decorem deformis homunculus admirabor; gaudebo ad vocem sponsi, tantam nihilominus pulchritudinem admirantis. Quis scit, si saltem ex hoc inventurus sim gratiam in oculis amicae, ut gratia ipsius et ipse inveniar inter amicos? Denique amicus sponsi stat, et gaudio gaudet propter vocem sponsi. En vox ejus in auribus dilectae: audiamus et gaudeamus. Adsunt sibi, loquuntur pariter; stemus simul: nulla nos huic subducat colloquio saeculi cura, nulla illecebra corporis.
3. Ecce, inquit, tu pulchra es, amica mea, ecce tu pulchra. Ecce admirationis vox est, reliquum laudis. Merito admiranda, cui sanctitas amissa humilitatem non attulit, sed servata admisit. Merito pulchra reperitur, cui neutra defuit pulchritudo. Rara avis in terris, aut sanctitatem non perdere, aut humilitatem sanctimonia non excludi: et ideo beata quae utramque retinuit. Denique probatum est: nihil sibi conscia est, et correptionem non abnuit. Nos et cum magna delinquimus, vix ferimus reprehendi; haec autem aequo animo audit contra se amaritudines nihil peccans. Nam, si desiderat videre claritatem sponsi, quid mali est? magis et laudis est. Et tamen increpata poenitentiam agit, et dicit: Fasciculus myrrhae dilectus meus mihi, inter ubera mea commo rabitur: hoc est: Sufficit mihi, nolo jam scire nisi Jesum, et hunc crucifixum. Magna humilitas! Actu innocens suscipit poenitentis affectum; et quae non habet unde poeniteat, habet tamen ut poeniteat. Cur ergo, inquis, increpata est, si nihil mali fecit? Sed enim audi nunc dispensationem et prudentiam sponsi. Sicut Abrahae olim obedientia sane tentata est, ita et nunc humilitas sponsae. Et quomodo ille impleta obedientia tunc audivit: Nunc cognovi quod timeas Deum: sic et huic modo quasi sub aliis verbis dicitur: Nunc cognovi quod humilis sis; hoc enim est quod ait: Ecce tu pulchra es. Et ideo praeconium iterat, ut gloriae sanctitatis additum signet humilitatis decorem. Ecce tu pulchra es, amica mea, ecce tu pulchra. Nunc cognovi quod pulchra sis, non solum ex meo amore, sed etiam ex tua humilitate. Non dico nunc pulchram inter mulieres, nec pulchram in genis, nec in collo, sicut ante dicebam: sed pulchram simpliciter fateor, non utique pulchram ex comparatione, non cum distinctione, non ex parte.
4. Et addit: Oculi tui columbarum. Aperte adhuc commendatur humilitas. Ad hoc siquidem respicit, quod illa reprehensa de alta inquisitione sua, continuo non cunctata est ad simpliciora descendere, ita ut diceret: Fasciculus myrrhae dilectus meus mihi. Multum profecto distat inter vultum gloriae, et fasciculum myrrhae: et ideo magnum humilitatis insigne, inde huc acquiescere revocari. Ergo oculi tui columbarum. Jam, inquit, non ambulas in magnis, neque in mirabilibus super te: sed instar simplicissimae volucris contenta es simplicioribus, nidificans in foraminibus petrae, meis vulneribus immorans, et libenter ea quae sunt de me duntaxat incarnato et passo, oculo intuens columbino.
5. Aut certe quia in specie avis hujus Spiritus sanctus apparuit, spiritualis magis quam simplex in ea intuitus columbae nomine commendatur. Et si hoc placeat, oportet referas capitulum praesens ad id quod paulo ante sodales muraenulas ei facere aureas promiserunt, non intendentes, ut tunc docui, ornare aures corporis, sed informare auditum cordis (supra, serm. 41, n. 2-4). Potuit itaque fieri, ut fide, quae est ex auditu, corde amplius mundato, ad videndum quod ante non poterat, instructior redderetur. Et quoniam de acceptis muraenulis in visu acutiori ad intelligentiam spiritualem visa est profecisse; placuit sponso, cui semper, quod in se est, placet magis videri in spiritu; et annumerans id quoque ejus laudibus, ait: Oculi tui columbarum. Jam me, inquit, intuere in spiritu, quia spiritus ante faciem tuam Christus Dominus. Et habes unde id possis, quia oculi tui columbarum. Ante non habebas, et ideo reprimenda fuisti: sed nunc copiam habeto vivendi, quia oculi tui columbarum, id est spirituales. Non sane copiam quam petebas: nec enim vel modo adhuc ad illam potes, sed quae tamen interim sufficere possit. Sane ducenda es de claritate in claritatem: et propterea vide, ut potes, modo; et cum plus poteris, plus videbis.
6. Non puto, fratres, non puto mediocrem hanc, neque communem esse omnibus visionem, etsi sit inferior illa, qua videndus est in futuro. Denique ex his quae sequuntur advertite. Sequitur enim: Ecce tu pulcher es, dilecte mi, ecce tu pulcher. Vides quam in excelso stat, et in sublime mentis verticem extulit, quae universitatis Dominum quadam sibi proprietate vindicet in dilectum. Attende enim quomodo non simpliciter, Dilecte; sed, dilecte mi, inquit, ut proprium designaret. Magna visio prorsus, de qua ista in id fiduciae et auctoritatis excrevit, ut omnium Dominum, dominum nesciat, sed dilectum. Existimo enim nequaquam hac vice ejus sensibus importatas imagines carnis, aut crucis, aut alias quascunque corporearum similitudines infirmitatum. In his namque, juxta prophetam, non erat ei species neque decor. Haec autem eum intuita, nunc pulchrum decorumque pronuntiat, in visione meliori illum sibi apparuisse significans. Ore enim ad os, sicut quondam cum sancto Moyse, loquitur cum sponsa; et palam, non per aenigmata et figuras, Deum videt. Talem denique ore pronuntiat, qualem et mente conspicatur, visione plane sublimi et suavi. Regem in decore suo viderunt oculi ejus, non tamen ut regem, sed ut dilectum. Viderit sane eum quis super solium excelsum et elevatum; et alius quoque facie ad faciem sibi apparuisse testatus sit: mihi tamen videtur eminentia in hac parte esse apud sponsam, quod ibi visus legitur Dominus, hic dilectus. Sic enim habes: Vidi Dominum sedentem super solium excelsum, et elevatum; et item: Vidi Dominum facie ad faciem, et salva facta est anima mea. Sed si ego Dominus, inquit, ubi est timor meus? Quod si illis facta est revelatio cum timore; quia ubi Dominus, ibi timor: ego profecto, si optio daretur, tanto libentius, tantoque charius sponsae amplecterer visionem, quanto in meliori affectione, quae est amor, factam adverto. Nam timor poenam habet, perfecta autem charitas foras mittit timorem. Multum sane interest apparere terribilem in consiliis super filios hominum, et apparere speciosum forma prae filiis hominum. Ecce tu pulcher es, dilecte mi, et decorus. Verba ista plane amorem resonant, non timorem.
7. Sed forte ascendunt cogitationes in corde tuo, et quaeris dubius apud te, dicens: Qua ratione verba Verbi facta ad animam referuntur, et rursum animae ad Verbum, ut illa audierit vocem loquentis sibi, et perhibentis quod pulchra sit, vicissimque idem praeconium suo mox reddiderit laudatori? Quomodo possunt haec fieri? Nam verbo loquimur, non verbum loquitur. Itemque anima non habet unde loquatur, nisi os corporis sibi verba formaverit ad loquendum. Bene quaeris: sed attende spiritum loqui, et spiritualiter oportere intelligi quae dicuntur. Quoties proinde audis vel legis, Verbum atque animam pariter colloqui, et se invicem intueri; noli tibi imaginari quasi corporeas intercurrere voces, sicut nec corporeas colloquentium apparere imagines. Audi potius quid tibi sit in hujusmodi cogitandum. Spiritus est Verbum, spiritusque anima, et habent linguas suas, quibus se alterutrum alloquantur, praesentesque indicent. Et Verbi quidem lingua favor dignationis ejus: animae vero, devotionis fervor. Elinguis est anima atque infans quae hanc non habet, et non potest ipsi ullatenus sermocinatio esse cum Verbo. Ergo hujuscemodi linguam suam cum Verbum movet, volens ad animam loqui, non potest anima non sentire. Vivus est enim sermo Dei et efficax, et penetrabilior omni gladio ancipiti, pertingens usque ad divisionem animae et spiritus. Et rursum cum suam anima movet, Verbum latere multo minus poterit; non solum quia ubique est praesens, sed propter hoc magis, quod, nisi ipso stimulante, devotionis lingua minime ad loquendum movetur.
8. Verbo igitur dicere animae, pulchra es, et appellare amicam, infundere est unde et amet, et se praesumat amari. Ipsi vero Verbum vicissim nominare dilectum, et fateri pulchrum; quod amat et quod amatur, sine fictione et fraude adscribere illi, et mirari dignationem, et stupere ad gratiam. Siquidem pulchritudo illius dilectio ejus; et ideo major, quia praeveniens. Medullis proinde cordis et intimarum vocibus affectionum tanto amplius atque ardentius clamitat sibi diligendum, quanto id prius sensit diligens quam dilectum. Itaque locutio Verbi infusio doni, responsio animae cum gratiarum actione admiratio. Et idcirco plus diligit, quod se sentit in diligendo victam: et ideo plus miratur, quod praeventam agnoscit. Unde non contenta est semel dicere pulchrum, nisi repetat et decorum, eminentiam decoris illa repetitione designans.
9. Aut certe in utraque Christi substantia dignum expressit omni admiratione decorem, in altera naturae, in altera gratiae. Quam pulcher es angelis tuis, Domine Jesu, in forma Dei, in die aeternitatis tuae, in splendoribus sanctorum ante luciferum genitus, splendor et figura substantiae Patris, et quidem perpetuus minimeque fucatus candor vitae aeternae! Quam mihi decorus es! Domine mi, in ipsa tui hujus positione decoris! Etenim ubi te exinanivisti, ubi naturalibus radiis lumen indeficiens exuisti; ibi pietas magis emicuit, ibi charitas plus effulsit, ibi amplius gratia radiavit. Quam clara mihi oriris Stella ex Jacob, quam lucidus Flos de radice Jesse egrederis, quam jucundum lumen in tenebris visitasti me, Oriens ex alto! Quam spectabilis et stupendus etiam Virtutibus supernis in conceptu de Spiritu, in ortu de Virgine, in vitae innocentia, in doctrinae fluentis, in coruscationibus miraculorum, in revelationibus sacramentorum! Quam denique rutilans post occasum, Sol justitiae, de corde terrae resurgis! quam formosus in stola tua demum, Rex gloriae, in alta coelorum te recipis! Quomodo non pro his omnibus omnia ossa mea dicent: Domine, quis similis tui.
10. Haec ergo similiaque puta in dilecto intuentem sponsam advertisse, cum diceret: Ecce tu pulcher es, dilecte mi, et decorus. Neque haec sola, sed insuper aliquid procul dubio de naturae decore superioris, quod nostrum omnino praetervolat intuitum, et effugit experimentum. Ergo iteratio utriusque decorem substantiae designavit. Audi deinde quomodo tripudiat ad aspectum affatumque dilecti, et coram ipso nuptiali carmine quae amoris sunt gratulabunda decantat. Sequitur enim: Lectulus noster floridus, tigna domorum nostrarum cedrina, laquearia nostra cypressina. Sed servemus recentiori principio sponsae cantilenam, ut et nos de quiete facti alacriores, liberius exsultemus et laetemur in ea ad laudem et gloriam sponsi ipsius Jesu Christi Domini nostri, qui est super omnia Deus benedictus in saecula. Amen.