Sermons on the Song of Songs63 Sermon LXIII. That a man who is pious and wise ought to cultivate care- fully his vineyard, that is to say, his life, his soul, and his conscience ; that there are two kinds of foxes, namely, flatterers and detractors ; and of the temp- tations of monks in their novitiate
Sermon LXIII. That a man who is pious and wise ought to cultivate care- fully his vineyard, that is to say, his life, his soul, and his conscience ; that there are two kinds of foxes, namely, flatterers and detractors ; and of the temp- tations of monks in their novitiate
* Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes.1—Cant. ii. 15.
It is clear that it was not without real need that attention was called to the vineyards, since foxes are found among the vines, who are despoiling them. That is the literal sense of the words. But what of the spiritual? In the first place, we reject the common and familiar explanation altogether as absurd, insipid, and altogether unworthy to be received as the sense of a Scripture so sacred and authentic. Unless anyone is so dull of mind and devoid of reason as to imagine it a great thing to be taught here, after the fashion of the children of this world, to have a care for earthly possessions; to guard and defend the vines against the wild animals which attack-them, for fear of possibly losing the fruit of the vine, in which is excess and riot, and of so losing at once their labour and their outlay. Assuredly great would be the loss if we should read and study the holy Book with so much care and deep veneration, only to be taught in it to protect our vines from foxes, lest if we should be negligent in our care of them, our cultivation should end in our purses being left empty. You are not so unskilled, nor so wanting in spiritual graces, as to understand the Scripture in so carnal a manner. Let us, then, seek the sense of them in the spirit. We shall, indeed, find, but in a sense more reasonable and more worthy of Scripture, the vines which have tender grapes, and the foxes which spoil them, and upon whom we may expend our labour in driving them away or capturing them, at once more honourably and to better purpose. Can you possibly doubt that it is needful to employ much more watchfulness to keep souls in safety than a crop of grapes, and that it needs much more vigilant care to avoid the snares of spiritual wickedness on account of the one than to capture marauding foxes on account of the other?
2. But now I must point out what these vines denote in a spiritual sense, and what these foxes. It will be your care, my dear sons, to apply, each to himself and to his own vineyard, whatever I may say in the course of this inquiry, that he may learn in what respect, and of what dangers, he has most necessity to take heed. To a wise man, then, this vineyard signifies his life, his soul, his conscience. For he who is wise ought to leave nothing in himself uncared for or desert. With the foolish man it is quite otherwise. You will find that with 3. It is, then, the wise man alone of whom it can properly be said that he has a vineyard, or, rather, that he himself is one, that has life. He is a tree in the House of God which bears fruit, and is therefore living. For that very wisdom itself, by which a man becomes, and is called, wise, is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her (Prov. iii. 18). How can he that takes hold upon her fail to have life? He truly lives, but by faith. For it is the just who is wise, and the just lives by faith (Heb. x. 38). And if the soul of the just be, as it is, the seat of wisdom, then he is truly wise who is just. He, then, whether you call him the wise or the just, because he never ceases to live, will never cease to have (or, rather, to be) a vineyard. For the vineyard and the life are in him the same thing. And the vineyard of the just is good, or, rather, the just is a good vineyard, since in him virtue is as the vine, his [good actions the branches and shoots, the testimony of his conscience the wine produced, and his tongue, as it were, the wine press. Our rejoicing is this, says the Apostle, the testimony of our conscience (2 Cor. i. 12). Do you perceive how in the wise nothing is without its use? His discourse, his reflections, his manner of life, and all the rest of his conduct, what are they but entirely God's husbandry, God's building, and in one word, the vine of the Lord of Hosts? And since, as we are assured, even its leaves shall not fall withered to the ground (Ps. i. 3), what can perish which belongs to it?
5. Take us the foxes, the little foxes, that spoil the grapes. This passage relates to morals; and, regarding it in a moral sense, we have already shown that these vines, spiritually understood, are nothing else than spiritual men, whose inward nature and faculties are all cultivated; which germinate, bear fruit, and bring forth a spirit of salvation, so that we are able to say of these vines of the Ix>rd of Hosts what is said of the Kingdom of God, that it is within us (Luke xvii. 21). For we read in the Gospel that the Kingdom of God shall be given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof (Matt. xxi. 43). These are they which St. Paul enumerates, saying: The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance (Gal. v. 22, 23). These fruits, then, are our progress in virtue. These are accepted by the Bridegroom, because He has a care of us. Do you think that it is of mere plants of earth that God has care? It is for men, not for trees, that the 1 This is the reading of three MSS.; but two others, and the printed editions, read: non modo in capiendo wipes, sed et in capiendo ipsi.
6. That is a parable which applies to the time which is approaching. Do you see [that these signify those Novices? They have only lately come, they have only just been converted. We cannot say of them that our vine has been in flower, for it is flowering now. That which in the meantime you see appear in them is the flower, but the time of fruit has not yet come. The flower is their new and altered manner of life, their recently adopted rule, and stricter method of conduct They have put on a mortified countenance, and a well regulated demeanour of their whole body. That which appears in them is, I confess, pleasing, for their outward man shows less care for dress and appearance, their speech is more sparing, their countenance more cheerful, their glances more modest, their movements more quiet and measured. But since they have practised these rules of life but a very little while, this very newness obliges us to regard them, so to speak, as flowers, and their actions as the hope of fruit, rather than as fruit themselves. I do not so much fear for you, my young sons, from the cunning of the foxes, since it is well known that their hostility is directed rather against fruits than flowers. Your danger comes from another direction. For you I fear the blasting of your flowers by the frost, rather than their being torn away by violence. It is the chilling north wind that suspect, and the morning frosts, which are wont to cut off the early and untimely flowers and the fruits in their germ. Therefore it is from the direction of the north wind that you are threatened; for who can stand be/ore Bis cold? (Vs. cxlvii. 17). If this freezing cold has once pervaded the soul (as happens but too often to it when the spirit is in a condition of relaxation and torpor), then, if there is no one (which may God avert) to hinder its further progress, it enters into the secret places of the heart, and into the inmost part of the soul; it stuns and paralyzes good dispositions, it closes up the avenues by which good advice and help might come, it troubles the light of the judgment, it fetters the impulses of the spirit; then, as it happens also to those who are suffering under a fever of the body, the soul undergoes sudden and vehement chills, its vigour is relaxed, a languor creeps 1 The Vulgate reading is vinea nostra flortiit.—Ed.
7. Our discourse must be brought back to those who are more advanced in virtue, and more stedfast in it; to the vine which has already flowered, whose flowers have nothing more to fear from the cold, though its fruits are not yet secure from despoiling foxes. It has yet to be explained at greater length what is to be understood spiritually by these foxes; why they are called ' littlewhy the command is not that they are to be driven away, or to be slain, but that they are to be ' takenand how the different kinds of these are to be distinguished, so that my hearers may learn to know them, and to be more on their guard against them. But we must not enter upon this subject in the present sermon that we may not weary you, and that our devotion may not cease to be marked by willingness and zeal, through the grace and to the glory of Him who is the great Bridegroom of the Church, our Lord Jesus Christ, who is above all, God blessed for ever. Amen.
1 Abdicatur. Another reading is abjudicatur.
2 A striking picture, indeed, of the fall of monks when in their novitiate. It may be compared with St. Bernard's ' Letters,' 107, 108, 395.
The TEMPTATIONS OF MORE MATURE MONKS
1. Capite nobis vulpes parvulas, quae demoliuntur vineas: nam vinea nostra floruit. Liquet quod non otiose ad vineas itum sit, quando ibi inventae sunt vulpes demolientes eas. Littera quidem istud. Spiritus autem quid? Ante omnia sane, ut communem et usitatum litterae sensum ab hac explanatione penitus respuamus, utpote ineptum et insulsum, indignumque plane, qui recipiatur in Scriptura tam sancta, tam authentica. Nisi quis forte ita vecors et animo stolidus sit, ut pro magno habeat didicisse ex ea, instar filiorum hujus saeculi, curam gerere terrenarum possessionum, custodire et defensare vineas ab incursantibus bestiis, ne forte contingat amittere fructum vini, in quo est luxuria; simulque pereat opera et impensa. Grande scilicet damnum, ut propterea librum sanctum tanto studio et tanta cum veneratione legamus, quod docemur in eo a vulpibus vineas custodire, ne in excolendis illis frustra marsupia vacuentur, si in custodiendis pigri fuerimus! Non estis tam rudes, neque adeo spiritualis gratiae expertes, ut ita carnaliter sapiatis. Ergo in spiritu ista quaeramus. Ibi sane invenimus, sano quidem intellectu, sensuque nihilominus digno, et vineas florentes, et vulpes demolientes, in quibus capiendis vel amovendis et honestius laboratur, et fructuosius. An vos dubitatis longe vigilantius insistendum mentibus servandis, quam frugibus; longe curiosius invigilandum cavendis propter illas spiritualibus nequitiis, quam capiendis propter istas fraudulentis vulpeculis?
2. Sed jam a me demonstrandae sunt spirituales istae tam vites, quam vulpes. Vestra intererit, filii, suae quemque vineae providere, cum me disputante adverterit, in quibus sibi et a quibus maxime sit cavendum. Viro sapienti sua vita vinea est, sua mens, sua conscientia. Nil quippe incultum desertumve in se sapiens derelinquet. Stultus non ita. Cuncta apud eum neglecta invenies, cuncta jacentia, cuncta inculta et sordida. Non est vinea stulto. Quomodo vinea, ubi nil plantatum, nil elaboratum uspiam paret? Tota spinis silvescit et tribulis stulti vita: et vinea est? Etsi fuit, jam non est, redacta nimirum in solitudinem. Ubi vitis virtutis? ubi botrus boni operis? ubi vinum laetitiae spiritualis? Per agrum hominis pigri transivi, inquit, et per vineam viri stulti: et ecce totum repleverant urticae, et operuerant superficiem ejus spinae, et maceria lapidum destructa erat. Audis sapientem irridentem stultum, quod bona naturae et dona gratiae, quae forte per lavacrum regenerationis acceperat, tanquam illam, quam plantavit Deus et non homo, primam suam vineam, in non vineam, negligendo redegit. Denique non potest vinea esse, ubi vita non est. Nam stultus quod vivit, mortem potius, quam vitam esse censuerim. Quomodo vita cum sterilitate? Arborarida et in sterilitatem versa, nonne mortua judicatur? Et sarmenta mortua sunt. Et occidit, inquit, in grandine vineas eorum; monstrans vita privatas, quae sterilitate damnatae sunt. Sic stultus eo ipso quod inutiliter vivit, vivens mortuus est.
3. Soli itaque convenit sapienti habere, vel potius esse vineam, qui vitam habet. Est lignum fructiferum in domo Dei, ac per hoc lignum vivens. Siquidem et ipsa sapientia, qua sapiens dicitur et est, lignum vitae est apprehendentibus eam. Quidni vivat apprehensor ejus? Vivit, sed ex fide. Justus nempe est sapiens, et justus ex fide vivit. Et si anima justi sedes est sapientiae, sicut est; profecto is sapiens, qui justus. Is ergo sive justum nomines, sive sapientem, nunquam absque vinea vivet, quia nunquam non vivet. Hoc quippe est illi vinea quod vita. Et bona vinea justi, imo bona vinea justus, cui virtus vitis, cui actio palmes, cui vinum testimonium conscientiae, cui lingua torcular expressionis. Denique: Gloria nostra haec est, inquit, testimonium conscientiae nostrae. Vides apud sapientem vacare nihil? Sermo, cogitatio, conversatio, et si quid aliud est ex eo, quidni totum Dei agricultura, Dei aedificatio est, et vinea Domini sabaoth? Quid denique illi de se perire possit, quando et folium ejus non defluet?
4. Caeterum, tali vineae nunquam infestationes, nunquam insidiae deerunt. Nempe ubi multae opes, multi sunt et qui comedunt eas. Sapiens erit sollicitus servare vineam suam non minus quam excolere, nec sinet eam vorari a vulpibus. Pessima vulpes occultus detractor, sed non minus nequam adulator blandus. Cavebit sapiens ab his. Dabit operam, sane quod in ipso est, capere illos qui talia agunt; sed capere beneficiis atque obsequiis, monitisque salutaribus, et orationibus pro eis ad Deum. Non cessabit istiusmodi carbones ignis congerere super caput maledici, et item super adulatoris, quousque, si fieri potest, et illi invidiam, et isti simulationem de corde tollat, faciens mandatum sponsi dicentis: Capite nobis vulpes parvulas quae demoliuntur vineas. An non tibi captus ille videtur, qui suffusus ora rubore, quippe proprium erubescens judicium, ipse suae confusionis et poenitudinis testis est; sive quod oderit hominem amore dignissimum; sive quod dilexerit tantum verbo et lingua eum, a quo se diligi opere et veritate vel sero expertus est? Captus plane, et captus Domino, secundum quod nominatim ipse expressit: Capite, inquiens, nobis. Utinam ego omnes adversantes mihi sine causa ita capere possim, ut Christo eos vel restituam, vel acquiram! Sic, sic confundantur et revereantur qui quaerunt animam meam, avertantur retrorsum et erubescant, qui volunt mihi mala: quatenus inveniar et ipse obediens sponso, ut capiam et ipse vulpes, non mihi, sed ipsi. Sed reflectatur sermo ad sui principium, ut suo ordine series explanationis procedat.
5. Capite nobis vulpes parvulas, quae demoliuntur vineas. Locus moralis est; et juxta morum disciplinam nos jam ostendimus, spirituales has vineas nonnisi spirituales viros esse, quorum cum omnia interiora culta sint, omniaque germinantia, omnia fructificantia et parturientia spiritum salutis, quomodo de regno Dei dictum est; ita de his vineis Domini sabaoth aeque dicere possumus, quoniam intra nos sunt. Denique, in Evangelio legitur, datum iri gentibus regnum Dei facientibus fructus ejus. Hi sunt quos Paulus enumerat, dicens: Fructus autem Spiritus est charitas, gaudium, pax, patientia, longanimitas, bonitas, benignitas, mansuetudo, fides, modestia, continentia, castitas. Fructus isti, profectus nostri. Hi accepti sponso, quia ipsi cura est de nobis. Num de virgultis cura est Deo? Homines, non arbores amat Homo Deus, et nostros profectus suos fructus reputat. Tempus horum diligenter observat, arridet apparentibus, et sollicitus satagit ne pereant nobis, cum apparuerint; imo vero ne pereant sibi: se enim reputat tanquam nos. Ideoque providens capi sibi jubet insidiantes vulpeculas, ne novellos fructus ipsae praeripiant. Capite, inquit, nobis vulpes parvulas, quae demoliuntur vineas. Et quasi quis dicat: Praepropere times, nondum venit fructuum tempus: Non est ita, inquit: nam vinea nostra floruit. Post flores non est fructuum mora; adhuc illis cadentibus isti erumpunt illico, illico incipiunt apparere.
6. Parabola ista instantis est temporis. Videtis istos novitios? Nuper venerunt, nuper conversi sunt. Non possumus de ipsis dicere, quia vinea nostra floruit: floret enim. Interim, quod in eis apparere videtis, flos est: fructuum tempus nondum advenit. Flos novella conversatio est, flos formula recens vitae emendatioris est. Induerunt sibi faciem disciplinatam, et bonam totius corporis compositionem. Placent, fateor, quae in facie sunt: negligentior utique is qui foris apparet corporum cultus est vestium, sermo rarior, vultus hilarior, aspectus verecundior, incessus maturior. Verum quia haec, noviter coepere, ipsa sui novitate flores censenda sunt, et spes fructuum, magis quam fructus. Vobis, filioli, non timemus a fraude vulpium, quae fructibus magis, quam floribus invidere noscuntur. Vestrum aliunde periculum est. Ustionem certe metuo floribus; non subreptionem, sed ustionem a frigore. Aquilo mihi suspectus est, et frigora matutina, quae intempestivos flores solent perdere, fructus praeripere. Iraque ab aquilone panditur vestrum malum. A facie frigoris ejus quis sustinebit? Hoc frigus si semel animam (animae quidem, ut assolet, incuria spiritu dormitante) pervaserit, ac nemine deinde, quod absit! inhibente ad interiora ejus pervenerit, descenderit in viscera cordis et sinum mentis, concusserit affectiones, occupaverit consilii semitas, perturbaverit judicii lumen, libertatem addixerit spiritus: mox, ut in corpore solet evenire febricitantibus, subit quidam animi rigor, et vigor lentescit, languor fingitur virium, horror austeritatis intenditur, timor sollicitat paupertatis, contrahitur animus, subtrahitur gratia, protrahitur longitudo vitae, sopitur ratio, spiritus exstinguitur, defervescit novitius fervor, ingravescit tepor fastidiosus, refrigescit fraterna charitas, blanditur voluptas, fallit securitas, revocat consuetudo. Quid plura? Dissimulatur lex, abdicatur jus [ alias, adjudicatur jus], fas proscribitur derelinquitur timor Domini. Dantur postremo impudentiae manus; praesumitur ille temerarius, ille pudendus, ille turpissimus, plenus ille ignominia et confusione saltus de excelso in abyssum, de pavimento in sterquilinium, de solio in cloacam, de coelo in coenum, de claustro in saeculum, de paradiso in infernum. Principium et originem hujus pestis, et vel qua arte vitetur, vel qua superetur virtute, non est hujus temporis demonstrare: alias erit hoc; nunc coepta prosequamur.
7. Ad provectiores et firmiores sermo est retorquendus, ad vineam quae jam floruit, cui quidem etsi non est quod floribus formidet a frigore, sed non fructus securi sunt a vulpibus. Dicendum apertius quid sint spiritualiter hae vulpes, cur pusillae dicantur, cur jubeantur potissimum capi, et non abigi, vel occidi: etiam introducenda diversa genera harum bestiarum ad majorem audientium notitiam et cautelam; non sane sermone isto, ut fastidio consulamus, et nostrae devotionis alacritas perpetuetur in gratia et confessione gloriae magni Ecclesiae Sponsi Domini nostri Jesu Christi, qui est super omnia Deus benedictus in saecula. Amen