Sermons on the Song of Songs70 Sermon LXX. Why the Bridegroom is called beloved; and of the truth, the gentleness, the righteousness, and the other virtues, which are called lilies, and among which he is said to feed
Sermon LXX. Why the Bridegroom is called beloved; and of the truth, the gentleness, the righteousness, and the other virtues, which are called lilies, and among which he is said to feed
* My Beloved is mine, and I am His: He feedeth among the lilies?—Cant. iL 16.
T T J HO can now impute to the Bride presumption or insolence, XX because she declares that she has been admitted into * * fellowship with Him who feedeth among the lilies? Even if it were said, * He feedeth among the stars,' I know not whether in consideration of that phrase, * He feedeth/ it would seem to be a great thing thus to have with Him friendship or familiarity. For the phrase seems to have in it somewhat humble and unrefined. And when she says that He feedeth among the lilies, she seems by this note of humiliation to repel and remove from herself any charge of temerity. For what are lilies? According to the Word of the Lord they are the grass of the field which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven (Matt. vi. 28-30). What, then, is He who feedeth upon the grass, as a lamb or a calf? Evidently a lamb or a fatted calf. But you have, perhaps, carefully noticed that the lilies are referred to here, not as food, but as the place of His sojourn; nor is it said that He WHY THE BRIDEGROOM IS CALLED BELOVED feedeth on the lilies, but among the lilies. So let it be. He does not feed on the grass as an ox; but what greatness can there be in one who is found among the grass, and lies down upon it to rest, like one of the crowd which surrounds Him; and what glory can there be to the Bride in having for her Beloved, one who acts thus? According to the literal sense, then, the modesty of the Bride, and the discretion with which she speaks, are sufficiently apparent, and it is clear that she rules her speech with judgment, and expresses her high fortunes in unassuming words.
2. But, nevertheless, she is not unmindful that He who feedeth is the same as He who giveth food to others; that He, though He abides among the lilies, yet reigns above the stars. But she makes mention the more willingly of the humble actions of her Beloved, because, as I have said, of His humility; but also because He began to be her Beloved from the time when He began to feed among the lilies. Nor was it only from that time that He did so, but from that fact. For He who in the heights is the Lord, in the depths is the Beloved; above the stars He reigns; among the lilies He loves. Yet even above the stars He loved, because at no time and in no place, being Himself the Essential Love, could He cease to love; but until He descended to be among the lilies, and was found to feed among them, He was not the object of love, nor did He become the Beloved. What you reply; was He not loved by the Patriarchs and by the Prophets? Assuredly; but not before He was seen by them also, feeding among the lilies. They cannot be said not to have seen Him whom they foresaw, unless anyone is so entirely without discernment as to suppose that a person who sees in the spirit really sees nothing. Whence, then, were they Seers, for so the Prophets were called (1 Sam. ix. 9) aforetime, if they saw nothing? It was because they desired to see Him whom as yet they saw not. And they would not have been able to form the desire to see Him in the body if they had not seen Him in the spirit. But, 1 say, were they all prophets? Either they all wished to see, or faith was granted to all. As to all those who had the gift of spiritual vision, either they were Prophets, or they were acquiescent and in alliance with the Prophets. While as to those who had faith, to have believed, is to have seen. For it seems to me not a mistake to say that it is possible to behold a thing in spirit and by faith, and not only by the spirit of prophecy.
3. He, therefore, who giveth food to all flesh, in deigning thus to come down and to feed among the lilies, made Himself loved, because He could not be loved before He was known. Accordingly, when the Bride makes mention of her Beloved, she appropriately refers to this fact as the cause of His being known and loved. This feeding among the lilies is to be spiritually understood; to take it in a literal sense would be ridiculous. We will show, as far as we are able, what these spiritual lilies are. I think that it will behove us first to examine on what the Beloved ' feedeth among the lilies'; whether upon the 4. And therefore it was that He who giveth food to all men, and is their Pastor, emptied Himself of His glory even to the point of receiving food. He was found among the lilies; He was beheld in His state of poverty by the Church, which was poor, and was beloved for the very reason of their similarity in this respect. Nor was it for this cause alone, but also because of His truth, His gentleness, and His righteousness; because promises were fulfilled through Him; because iniquities were forgiven; because the demons and their chief were judged and condemned in their pride. Such, then, was He when He appeared, that He was deserving of being loved; for, while by His own Nature He was the purest Truth, to men He was gentle and kind, and on their behalf He was righteous. O Bridegroom truly to be loved, and to be embraced with every fibre of the heart's affection! Why should the Church hesitate or delay to commit herself with an entire devotion to one so faithful to His promises, so kind to forgive, and so strong and righteous to protect? The Psalmist had foretold of Him long before: In Thy glory and Thy majesty ride prosperously. What kind of flower has glory and beauty? The lily, I think; there is nothing more beautiful than that. So the Bridegroom is fairer than all. What, then, are these lilies from which He draws a beauty so rare? Ride prosperously, continues the Psalmist, because of truth, and meekness, and righteousness (Ps. xlv. 3, 4). These are the lilies; the lilies, I say, growing out of the earth, and blooming brightly upon it; surpassing other flowers in beauty, and fragrant above all perfumes. Among these lilies is the Bridegroom, and from them is He surpassingly fair and beautiful. For otherwise, and regarding only the infirmity of the flesh, in Him there is no form nor comeliness (Is. liii. 2).
5. An exquisite lily, most fair in hue and marvellous in fragrance.
6. Truth, then, is a lily; so also is Gentleness; it has the whiteness of innocence, the fragrance of hope. 4 Remnants there are/ it is said, 1 for the peaceable man' (Ps. xxxvii. 37, Douay). The gentle and kindly is a man of good hope [for the future life], nor is he in the present life less an example of clemency and friendship. Does not the lily, which shines with the duties of charity, diffuse also the fragrance of hope? Add to this that just as truth has sprung out of the earth, so also has gentleness. Unless anyone doubts that the Lamb, the Ruler of the earth (Is. xvi. 1), that Lamb who was led to the slaughter, and opened not His Mouth (Is. liii. 7), was sprung from the earth. Not only Gentleness and Truth have sprung out of the earth, but also Righteousness; as says the Prophet: Drop down, ye Heavens, from above, and let the skies pour down righteousness: let the earth open, and let them bring forth salvation, and let /Righteousness spring up together (Is. xlv. 8). That Righteousness is a lily, the Scripture teaches us, saying that the righteous shall graiv as the 43Q lily, and shall flourish for ever before the Lord (Hos. xiv. 5).* It is not, then, the case with this lily, that to-day it is, and to-morrow it is cast into the oven, since it shall flourish for ever; and that before the Lord, for the righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance, and shall not be afraid of evil tidings (Ps. cxii. 6, 7); that is to say, he shall not fear to have to listen to that terrible sentence by which sinners are bidden to go away into everlasting fire. To whom is the brightness of this lily not visible, except the person to whom it is unpleasing? It is a sun; but not that sun which rises upon the evil and upon the good. For those who shall say: 4 The Sun of Righteousness hath not risen upon us' (Wisd. v. 6) have never even beheld His light Far otherwise is it with them to whom it has been said: Unto you that fear My Name shall the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in his wings (Mai. iv. 2). The whiteness of this lily, then, is among the just; its fragrance, indeed, extends even unto sinners, although in them it is not for good. For we have heard the voice of the righteous saying: We are unto God a sweet savour of Christy in them that are saved, and in them that perish: to the one 7ce are the savour of death unto death, and to the other the savour of life unto life (2 Cor. ii. 15, 16). Who, though he be the most abandoned of men, does not approve of the sentiments of a righteous man, although he does not love his actions? Happy is he who does not condemn himself in that which he approves. For it is a self-condemnation to approve that which is good, and yet not to love it; so that a person is not happy, but miserable, who is thus condemned by his own judgment. What can be more miserable than the condition of a person to whom the savour of life is a messenger, not of life, but of death? Or, rather, I should call it, not a messenger of death, but a deathstroke.
7. There are still many other lilies besides these which the Prophet has indicated to us in the character of the Bridegroom; I mean besides truth, and gentleness, and righteousness; nor will it be difficult for each of us to find for himself similar ones in the garden, so full of delights, of the Bridegroom. It abounds and super-abounds in such; who can enumerate them? since there are as many lilies as virtues; and of virtues in the Lord of virtues there is no end. For in Christ there is the fulness of virtues, and, therefore, also the abundance of lilies. Therefore, perhaps, it is that He is Himself spoken of as the Lily, because He is wholly surrounded with lilies, and all events in His Life are, so to speak, lilies: His conception, His Birth, His manner of life, the words He spake, the miracles He did; His Sacraments, His Passion, His Death, His Resurrection, His Ascension. Which of all these events is there that has not a pure splendour and a sweet fragrance? Thus, for instance, in His Conception is apparent the brightness of heavenly 1 This is not the reading of the Vulgate, which has, 4 shall cast forth his root as Lebanon'; and the other versions agree in this. The quotation was probably made from memory.—Ed.
8. Some of the companions of the Bridegroom also have their lilies, but not in great number. For though all have received the Holy Spirit, it is by measure, and by measure also have they received gifts and graces. It is He alone who possesses them without measure (John iii. 34), because He possesses all. It is one thing to have some lilies, and another thing to have lilies only. Whom can you show me, from among the sons of the captivity, who is so holy and entirely without guile, as to be able to cover all the land that is his with flowers like these? Not the infant of a day old is pure upon the earth (Job xiv. 4, 5, according to the LXX.). Great and successful is he who is able to train up in the plot of ground committed to him even three or four of these lilies, in the midst of such a thicket of thorns and thistles, which are the inveterate seeds of the ancient curse. As for me, who am poor, I shall think myself happy if I am enabled by diligent weeding to clear my little plot of land from that evil crop of iniquities and vices, and by careful cultivation to ensure the growth of even one lily, so that He who feedeth among the lilies may deign sometimes to find His place for so doing in my soul.
9. I have said 'even one lily,' but this is too little, and it was out of the poverty of my heart that my mouth spake. For one will not suffice; at least two are absolutely necessary. I refer to continence and to innocence, whereof the one without the other will not save. It will be in vain that I invite the Bridegroom to come to either one of these, for He is represented, not as feeding upon a lily, but among the lilies. My care, then, shall be to have lilies, so that He who feedeth among the lilies may not, because I have only a single one, turn away from His servant in displeasure. I set, therefore, inno-
1. Dilectus meus mihi, et ego illi, qui pascitur inter lilia. Quis huic jam imputet praesumptioni vel insolentiae, si se dicat iniisse societatem cum illo, qui pascitur inter lilia? Etiamsi inter sidera pasceretur, eo solo quod pasceretur, nescio quid magnum videri possit cum ejusmodi amicitias seu familiaritatem habere. Aliquid prorsus ignobile et humile sonat, pasci. Nunc vero cum et pasci inter lilia perhibetur, dejectionis adjectio longius amovet et propulsat temeritatis notam. Quid enim sunt lilia? Juxta verbum Domini, fenum, quod hodie est, et cras in clibanum mittitur. Quantus est iste qui feno pascitur, quasi unus agnorum aut vitulorum? Et agnus plane, et vitulus saginatus. Sed tu forte vigilantius advertisti, non pabulum hoc loco designari, sed locum: nec enim dictum est, liliis cum pasci; sed, inter lilia. Esto. Non fenum comedit ut bos; in feno tamen versari, et super fenum discumbere instar unius de turba, quid eminentiae habere potest? Quid vero gloriae huic, habere dilectum illum qui hoc egerit? Et secundum litteram quidem sponsae verecundia et cautela prudentiae ejus in loquendo satis apparet, utique disponentis sermones suos in judicio, et rerum gloriam verborum modestia temperantis.
2. Alias autem non ignorat unum esse, et qui pascitur, et qui pascit; inter lilia commorantem, et regnantem super sidera. At libentius humilia dilecti memorat, propter humilitatem quidem, ut dixi; magis autem quod exinde coepit esse dilectus, ex quo et pasci. Nec modo exinde, sed inde. Nam qui in altissimis est Dominus, in imis est dilectus; super sidera regnans, et inter lilia amans. Amabat et super sidera, quia nusquam et nunquam potuit non amare, quia amor est; sed donec ad lilia descendit, et pasci inter lilia compertus est, nec amatus est, nec factus dilectus. Quid? non est amatus a patriarchis et prophetis? Est: sed non priusquam visus est et ab ipsis inter lilia pasci. Neque enim non viderunt, quem praeviderunt; nisi ita quis absque spiritu sit, ut videntem in spiritu, putet videre nihil. Unde ergo Videntes, nam sic prophetae appellati sunt, si nihil viderunt? Inde est, quod voluerunt videre, quem non viderunt. Nec enim poterant velle videre in corpore, quem in spiritu non vidissent. Sed dico: Nunquid omnes prophetae? Quasi omnes videre voluerint, aut fuerit omnium fides. Sed enim qui viderunt, aut prophetae fuerunt, aut prophetis acquiescentes. Et credidisse enim, vidisse est. Non modo namque qui per prophetiae spiritum, sed et qui per fidem videt, si quis ipsum quoque dicat videre in spiritu, mihi non videtur errare.
3. Ita ergo quod ad lilia descendere, et inter lilia pasci dignatus est is qui omnes pascit, dilectum fecit illum, quia non potuit ante diligi, quam agnosci. Ac per hoc cum de dilecto facta est mentio, pulchre et illud memoratum est, quod dilectionis et agnitionis exstitit causa. Quaerenda in spiritu refectio haec inter lilia: nam corpoream cogitare ridiculum est. Quin ipsa lilia spiritualia, si quidem potuerimus, demonstranda a nobis erunt. Puto, hoc quoque dicere nos oportebit, unde inter lilia pascatur dilectus, liliisne ipsis, an aliis inter lilia reconditis herbis vel floribus? Et in his illud mihi difficilius apparet, quod pasci, non pascere perhibetur. Nam quia pascat dubium non est, nec enim indignum ei: at pasci, indigentiam sonat, et ne spiritualiter quidem sine injuria majestatis facile illi posse assignari videtur. Nec ego sane recordor usque modo advertisse me in hoc cantico pastum uspiam perhiberi, cum pascentem, puto, recordemini et vos mecum. Denique postulavit sibi aliquando demonstrari, ubi in meridie pasceret et cubaret. Et nunc quidem, quod necdum dixerat, perhibet pasci, sed non similiter postulat locum indicari sibi; sed ipsa indicat, assignans, inter lilia. Novit hoc, illud non novit; quia aeque praesto esse non potest quod sublimet et in sublimi est, et quod humile et super terram. Sublime opus, sublimis et locus: nec accessus ad eum usque adhuc vel ipsi sponsae.
4. Et ideo semetipsum exinanivit usque ad hoc, ut pasceretur ipse omnium pastor; et inventus est inter lilia, et visus ab Ecclesia, adamatus est ab inope pauper, factus dilectus propter similitudinem. Non solum autem, sed et propter veritatem, et mansuetudinem, et justitiam: quod per eum scilicet promissiones adimpletae sunt, quod iniquitates remissae sunt, quod superbi daemones una cum principe suo judicati sunt. Talis ergo apparuit qui merito amaretur, verax pro se, mitis hominibus, justus pro hominibus. O vere amandum et totis medullis cordis amplectendum sponsum! Quid jam cunctetur Ecclesia totam se tota devotione committere tam fido redditori, tam pio indultori, tam justo propugnatori? Porro praemiserat Propheta, dicens: Specie tua et pulchritudine tua intende prospere. Unde species haec et pulchritudo? Puto, ex liliis. Quid lilio speciosius? Sic nihil formosius sponso. Quae sunt ergo illa lilia, e quibus species decoris ejus? Procede, inquit, et regna propter veritatem, et mansuetudinem, et justitiam. Lilia sunt, lilia, inquam, orta de terra, nitentia super terram, eminentia in floribus terrae, fragrantia super odorem aromatum. Ergo inter haec lilia sponsus, et omnino ex his speciosus et pulcher. Alias enim (quod quidem ad carnis infirma spectat) non erat ei species neque decor.
5. Bonum autem lilium veritas, candore conspicuum, odore praecipuum; denique candor est lucis aeternae, splendor et figura substantiae Dei. Lilium plane, quod ad novam benedictionem terra nostra produxit, et paravit ante faciem omnium populorum, lumen ad revelationem gentium. Donec sub maledicto fuit terra, spinas et tribulos germinavit. At nunc Veritas de terra orta est Domino benedicente, speciosus omnino quidam flos campi, et lilium convallium. Agnosce lilium ex candore, qui mox in ipso exortu floris pastoribus de nocte emicuit, dicente Evangelio quia angelus Domini stetit juxta illos, et claritas Dei circumfulsit illos. Bene Dei, quia non angeli, sed lilii candor. Ille aderat, sed illud micabat ab usque Bethlehem. Agnosce lilium et ex odore, quo et longe positis innotuit magis. Et quidem stella apparuit; sed eam minime viri graves secuti fuissent, nisi intima quadam suaveolentia orti lilii traherentur. Et vere lilium veritas, cujus odor animat fidem, splendor intellectum illuminat. Leva etiam oculos nunc in ipsam personam Domini, qui in Evangelio loquitur: Ego sum veritas. Et vide quam competenter veritas lilio comparetur. Si non advertisti, adverte de medio floris hujus quasi virgulas aureas prodeuntes, et cinctas candidissimo flore, pulchre ac decenter disposito in coronam: et agnosce auream in Christo divinitatem, humanae coronatam puritate naturae, id est Christum in diademate, quo coronavit eum mater sua. Nam in quo coronavit eum Pater suus, lucem habitat inacessibilem, nec posses in ea illum interim adhuc videre. Sed de hoc alias.
6. Nunc vero lilium veritas est; est et mansuetudo. Et bene lilium mansuetudo, habens innocentiae candorem, et odorem spei, quoniam sunt reliquiae, inquit, homini pacifico. Bonae spei vir mansuetus, nec minus etiam in praesenti lucidum quoddam vitae est socialis exemplar. Annon lilium, quae lucet officio, redolet spe? Adde quod sicut veritas de terra orta est, ita et mansuetudo. Nisi quis dubitet ortum de terra Agnum dominatorem terrae, illum agnum, qui ad occisionem ductus est, et non aperuit os suum. Nec tantum mansuetudo seu veritas de terra orta est, sed et justitia, propheta dicente: Rorate, coeli, desuper, et nubes pluant justum; aperiatur terra, et germinet Salvatorem, et justitia oriatur simul. Quod autem justitia lilium sit, recordamini de Scriptura, quia justus germinabit sicut lilium, et florebit in aeternum ante Dominum. Nequaquam lilium hoc hodie est, et cras in clibanum mittitur, quia in aeternum florebit. Et florebit ante Dominum, cujus in memoria aeterna erit justus, et ab auditione mala non timebit, illa scilicet auditione, qua in clibanum ignis peccatores ire jubentur. Porro hujus lilii candor cui non splendet, nisi cui non placet? Denique sol est, sed non ille qui oritur super bonos et malos. Neque enim qui dicturi sunt: Sol justitiae non ortus est nobis, lucem illius quandoque viderunt. Viderunt autem quotquot audierunt: Vobis qui timetis Deum, orietur sol justitiae. Ergo candor hujus lilii apud justos; fragrantia etiam usque ad iniquos diffunditur, etsi non in bonum ipsis. Denique audivimus justos dicentes quia Christi bonus odor sumus in omni loco; sed aliis quidem odor vitae in vitam, aliis odor mortis in mortem. Quis, vel sceleratissimus, justi non probet opinionem, quamvis non amet opus? Et beatus, si se non judicat in eo quod probat. Judicat autem, probans bonum, et non amans: ideoque non beatus plane, sed miser, proprio condemnatus judicio. Quid eo miserius, cui odor vitae, non vitae, sed mortis nuntius est? Imo nec nuntius quidem, sed bajulus.
7. Sunt multa apud sponsum et alia lilia praeter haec, quae ex Propheta inciderunt nobis; veritatem loquor, et mansuetudinem, et justitiam; nec erit difficile jam cuilibet vestrum similia reperire per semetipsum in horto tam deliciosi sponsi. Abundat et superabundat talibus: quis illa enumeret? Nempe quot virtutes, tot lilia. Quis finis virtutum apud Dominum virtutum? Quod si plenitudo virtutum in Christo; et liliorum. Et fortassis propterea ipse se lilium appellavit, quod totus versetur in liliis, et omnia quae ipsius sunt, lilia sint; conceptio, ortus, conversatio, eloquia, miracula, sacramenta, passio, mors, resurrectio, ascensio. Quid horum non candidum, et non suavissime redolens? Tanta denique in conceptione refulsit superni luminis claritas de supervenientis abundantia Spiritus, ut ne ipsa quidem Virgo sancta sustinuisset, si non sibi obumbratum foret a virtute Altissimi. Porro ortum candidavit incorrupta virginitas matris; conversationem, innocentia vitae; eloquia, veritas; miracula, puritas cordis; sacramenta, pietatis arcanum; passionem, patiendi voluntas; mortem, libertas non moriendi; resurrectionem, martyrum fortitudo; ascensionem, exhibitio promissionum. Quam bonus fidei odor in his singulis, nostra quidem, qui candorem non vidimus, tempora et viscera replens! Et beati qui non viderunt, et crediderunt. Pars mea in his odor vitae, qui procedit ex ipsis. Is infusus naribus meis apto quodam fidei instrumento, et quidem copiosius pro multitudine liliorum, sane et exsilium levat, et patriae desiderium assidue innovat in visceribus meis.
8. Habent lilia et aliqui sodalium sponsi, sed non copiam. Omnes enim ad mensuram Spiritum acceperunt, ad mensuram virtutes et dona; solus ille non habet modum, qui habet totum. Aliud est lilia habere, aliud nonnisi lilia habere. Quem dabis mihi de filiis captivitatis adeo innocentem et sanctum, qui totam terram suam floribus occupare potuerit, et istiusmodi floribus? Nec infans certe unius diei sine sorde est super terram (Job XIV, 4, 5, juxta LXX). Magnus est qui tria vel quatuor lilia aedificare potuerit in terra sua, in tanta densitate spinarum et tribulorum, quae sunt germina inveterata maledictionis antiquae. Mecum vero, qui pauper sum, bene agitur, si unquam ab hac pessima segete, iniquitatum videlicet atque vitiorum, tantillum terrae meae vindicare exstirpando et excolendo sufficiam, unde unum saltem producere lilium possim, si forte et penes me pasci interdum dignetur is, qui pascitur inter lilia.
9. At parum dixi, unum: de penuria cordis mei os meum locutum est. Unum prorsus non sufficit; duo ad minus necessaria sunt. Dico autem continentiam, et innocentiam: quarum una sine altera nec salvabit. Frustra denique ad unam quamlibet harum invitabo sponsum, qui non ad lilium, sed inter lilia pasci perhibetur. Dabo proinde operam habere lilia, ne de singularitate causetur lilii, qui non vult nisi inter lilia pasci, et sic declinet in ira a servo suo. Pono itaque primam omnium innocentiam: et si huic jungere continentiam quivero, divitem me putabo in possessione liliorum. Rex sum autem, si tertiam his adjungere potero patientiam. Et quidem possunt sufficere illae; sed quia et deficere in tentationibus possunt, siquidem tentatio est vita hominis super terram: opus profecto patientia est, quae utriusque sit quasi tutrix [ alias, nutrix] quaedam et custos. Puto, si venerit amator ille liliorum, et ita invenerit, quod non dedignabitur jam pasci apud nos, et apud nos facere pascha: ubi illi et multa suavitas in duabus, et magna erit securitas propter tertiam. Verum quo pacto dicatur pasci qui pascit omnia, postea videbitur. Nunc vero apparet sponsum non modo apparere inter lilia, sed minime omnino extra lilia posse aliquando inveniri, cum omne quod de eo est, et ipse sit lilium, sponsus Ecclesiae Jesus Christus Dominus noster, qui est super omnia Deus benedictus in saecula. Amen.