Isaac, or the Soul

1. The Warring Natures of Soul and Flesh

Consider, then, O man, who you are, by what means you guard your salvation and your life. What, then, is man? Is he the soul, or the flesh, or the union of both? For one thing are we, another thing is ours: one is he who is clothed, another is the garment. We read in the Old Testament: All the souls that went down into Egypt, said of men. And elsewhere it is said: My spirit shall not remain in these men, because they are flesh. Of either, then, it is read that man is called both from soul and from flesh. But the distinction is this: that where soul is put for man, the Hebrew signifies one cleaving to God, not to the body, as in that saying: Every simple soul is blessed. But where flesh is named for man, the sinner is expressed, as in that saying: But I am carnal, sold under sin; for what I do, I do not understand. For I do not do what I will, but what I hate, that I do.

This latter part now concerns both. For one is he who wills, another he who hates, another he who does. Then he added: If, then, I do what I hate, I consent to the law, that it is good. Now, then, it is no longer I who do it, but the sin that dwells in me. And still more expressly: I see the law of my flesh warring against the law of my mind, and taking me captive in the law of sin. And yet, though he had declared man to be at war within himself in both parts—that is, the inner and the outer—he preferred to place himself rather in the part of the soul than of the body, because his soul was being dragged captive to sin, in which he would rather be, and affirms that he is, saying: Wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death? As from an alien enemy, so he desires to be freed from the flesh.

2. What the Soul Is, and Is Not

Blood, then, is not the soul, since blood belongs to the flesh; nor is harmony the soul, since a harmony of this kind belongs likewise to the flesh; nor is air the soul, since breathable spirit is one thing, soul another; nor is fire the soul, nor is it an entelechy: but the soul is a living thing; since Adam was made into a living soul, because the soul gives life to and governs the insensible and lifeless body. There is also a more excellent man, of whom it is said: But the spiritual man judges all things, and he himself is judged by no one. This one is more excellent than the rest. Whence David also says: What is man that thou art mindful of him, or the son of man, that thou visitest him? [lacuna] Man is become like vanity. Not that man made according to the image of God is of vanity; but he who lost that image, and fell into sin, and slipped down into these material things—this man is of vanity.

3. How the Soul Becomes Corrupted by the Body

The soul, then, according to its own nature is best; but for the most part, through what is irrational in it, it becomes liable to corruption, so that it is inclined to the pleasures of the body and to wantonness, when it does not hold the measure of things, or is deceived by opinion, and, inclined toward matter, becomes glued to the body. Thus its invisible part is impeded, and it is filled with malice; because while it attends to malice, it fills itself with its vices, and becomes, through defect of goodness, more intemperate.

1. The Perfected Soul's Flight from Vice

But the perfected soul turns away from matter: it shuns and rejects everything immoderate, mobile, malignant; it neither looks upon nor draws near to the corruption of any earthly stain: it attends to divine things, and flees earthly matter. But the flight is not to leave the earth, but, being on earth, to hold to justice and sobriety, to renounce vices, not the uses of the elements. Holy David fled from the face of Saul; not indeed that he might leave the earth, but that he might avoid contagion with a merciless, disregardful, and treacherous man. But he fled while clinging to God, as he himself says: My soul has clung after thee. He withdrew and lifted himself away from the vices of this age, he raised up his soul as Isaac did in the field, or withdrew himself, or (as others have it) walked about.

For this too he shows, that he has familiar fellowship with the virtues, so that each one may walk in the innocence of his heart, mingling in no way with earthly vices through use, and may pursue the blameless way with unstumbling step of mind, and open in himself no place to corruption.

2. Isaac Awaits Rebecca as a Figure of the Church

Such was Isaac when he waited for the coming Rebecca, preparing himself for the spiritual union. For she was coming already endowed with heavenly mysteries: she came bearing with her great ornaments for ears and hands; because the beauty of the Church shines forth in hearing and in works, to whom we notice it was rightly said: Be thou for thousands of thousands, and let thy seed possess the cities of the adversaries. Beautiful, then, is the Church, which has acquired sons from among hostile nations. But this can also be attributed to the soul, which subdues the passions of the body, and turns them to the offices of the virtues, and makes the resisting movements obedient to itself. So then either the soul of the Patriarch, seeing the mystery of Christ, seeing Rebecca coming with vessels of gold and silver, as the Church coming with the people of the nations, marveling at the beauty of the Word and of his mysteries, says: Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth.

Or Rebecca, seeing the true Isaac, that true joy, that true gladness, desires to kiss him.

3. The First Advance of the Soul

The first advance of the soul. What, then, is meant: Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth? Consider either the Church, long since suspended through many ages upon the Lord's coming, promised to her through the Prophets; or the soul, which, raising itself from the body, having renounced luxury, and delights, and carnal pleasures, and stripped also of the anxiety of worldly vanities, has long since desired for herself the infusion of the divine presence, and the grace of the saving Word, and is worn away that he comes late, and is afflicted; and therefore, as though wounded by love, since she cannot bear his delays, turning to the Father she asks that he send her God the Word; and she declares the reason why she is so impatient, saying: Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth. She seeks not one kiss, but many kisses; that she may be able to fulfill her desire.

For she who loves is not content with the sparing measure of a single kiss, but demands many, claims many; and thus is accustomed to commend herself the more to the beloved. In the end, that woman in the Gospel was thus approved: because, it says, she did not cease to kiss my feet [lacuna] and therefore many sins were forgiven her, because she loved much. So too this soul desires many kisses of the Word, that she may be illumined by the light of divine knowledge. For this is the kiss of the Word, namely, the light of sacred knowledge. For God the Word kisses us, when he illumines our heart, and the very ruling part of man, with the spirit of divine knowledge, whereby the soul, endowed with the nuptial pledge of charity, glad and exultant, says: I opened my mouth, and drew breath. For a kiss is that by which mutual lovers cling to one another, and, as it were, obtain possession of an inner sweetness of grace.

Through this kiss the soul clings to God the Word, through which the spirit of the one kissing is poured into her: just as also those who kiss one another are not content with the mere touching of lips, but seem to pour their spirit into one another.

4. The Word's Doctrine as Breasts and Ointments

Showing, then, that she loves not only the appearance of the Word, and a certain countenance, but all his inward things, she adds, to the grace of the kisses: For thy breasts, she says, are better than wine, and the odor of thy ointments above all spices. She asked for a kiss: God the Word poured himself wholly into her, and bared to her his breasts, that is, his doctrines, and the teachings of inward wisdom, and was fragrant with the sweet odor of his ointments. Captivated by these, she says that the joy of divine knowledge is richer than the delight of every bodily pleasure. For there breathes in the Word the odor of grace, and the remission of sins, which, diffused over the whole world, filled all things as with poured-out ointment; because throughout all the world the heavy filth of vices has been wiped away.

5. The Soul's Plea to Be Drawn by the Word

Therefore, he says, young maidens have loved thee. Draw us, that we may run after the odour of thy ointments. Prudence indeed is good, but mercy is sweet. For few attain to the former, but the latter reaches all. On account of this indulgence of thine, he says, souls renewed in spirit love thee. Whence it is also said to the soul: Thy youth shall be renewed like the eagle's. For he was speaking to the soul, saying: Bless the Lord, O my soul. And therefore she hastens to the Word, and asks to be drawn, lest perchance she be left behind; for the Word of God runs, and is not bound. Finally, it exults as a giant to run the way. And because his going out is from the height of heaven, and his encounter is even to the height thereof, seeing herself unequal to such swiftness, she says: Draw us. A good soul, which asks not for herself alone, but for all. Draw us, she says.

For we have the desire of following, which the grace of thy ointments inspires: but because we cannot equal thy courses, draw us, that supported by thy help, we may be able to keep to thy footsteps. For if thou drawest, we too shall run, and shall catch the spiritual gusts of swiftness. For the burden is laid down from those whose support thy hand is, and thy oil is poured in, whereby he was healed who was wounded by robbers. And lest it seem impudent to thee that she says: Draw us, hear him saying: Come to me all you that labour, and are burdened, and I will refresh you. Thou seest that he willingly draws us, lest we should remain behind while following. But he who wishes to be drawn, let him run that he may lay hold; and let him run forgetting the things that are behind, and reaching forth to those that are before; for thus will he be able to lay hold of Christ.

Whence the Apostle also says: So run, that you may all obtain. She too wishes to attain to the prize, who desires to lay hold. Prudently, therefore, she asks to be drawn: because not all can follow. Finally, when Peter said: Whither goest thou? The Word of God answered: Thou canst not follow me now, but thou shalt follow afterward. He had entrusted to him the keys of the kingdom of heaven, yet judged himself unequal in following him. Yet this soul he did not put off; because she did not presume, but asked.

1. The Second Progress of the Soul

The second progress of the soul.—Finally she says: The king hath brought me into his chamber. Blessed is the soul which enters the inner chambers of the Word. For rising up from the body it becomes more removed from all things, and searches and seeks within itself whether it can in any way attain to that divine reality. And when it has been able to grasp it, having surpassed the things that are intelligible, it is confirmed in that reality, and is fed by it. Such was Paul, who knew himself to have been caught up into paradise: but whether caught up out of the body, or in the body, he knew not. For his soul rose up from the body, and had withdrawn and lifted itself away from the entrails and bonds of the flesh; and being made a stranger to himself, he held within himself the ineffable words which he heard, and could not utter them, because he perceived that it was not lawful for man to speak them.

Therefore a good soul despises visible and sensible things, nor rests in them, nor lingers and dwells in the scorning of them: but ascends to those eternal and invisible things, full of wonders, lifting itself up with the pure sense of a devout mind. For indeed, striving after perfection, it aims only at that good of the Godhead, nor thinks anything else need be sought; because it holds what is highest. Therefore such a man, in whom is the beauty of the soul, is alone sufficient to himself, because he is enough for himself. Nor is he ever alone, to whom the Lord is present as guide.

2. Rejoicing in God Alone, Not in Riches

Finally, brought into that secret place of the divine one, she says: Let us exult and rejoice in thee, and let us love thy breasts more than wine. For it is not in riches, nor in treasures of gold and silver, not in the fruits of possessions, not in powers, not in banquets, but in God alone that the just man exults.

3. Blackened by the Passions of the Body

Yet the same soul, knowing herself darkened by fellowship with the body, says to other souls, or to those heavenly and adjacent powers appointed to sacred ministry: Look not upon me that I am blackened; because the sun hath not looked upon me. The children of my mother have fought against me, that is, the passions of the body have assailed me, the allurements of the flesh have colored me; therefore the sun of justice has not shone upon me: bereft of whose protection I have not been able to keep my devotion and full observance intact; for this is what is meant: My own vineyard I have not kept, because I brought forth thorns and not grapes, that is, committing sins instead of fruits.

4. The Soul Asks Where the Word Feeds at Midday

And when she speaks of the Word, turned toward him as the splendor of the Word shines upon her, she says: Where dost thou feed thy flock? Where dost thou lie in the midday? Rightly she says: Where dost thou feed? Because the Word of God is royal; Where dost thou lie, because it is moral; In the midday, because it is mystical. For indeed at midday Joseph, seated at a banquet with his brothers, revealed the mysteries of future times. But David also says: Reveal thy way to the Lord, and trust in him, and he will do it; and he will bring forth thy justice as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday. And Paul himself declared that a light shone round about him at midday, when he was converted from persecution to grace. She complains, therefore, that she has been left, that she, poor, has been abandoned by one who was rich.

For she abounded in the gift of graces: but she began to be needy, when the abundance of the divine presence was denied her; and therefore she asks to be held even as a hireling, she who before claimed for herself the grace of a more precious union.

5. The Word Bids the Soul Know Herself

To whom the Word of God answered: Unless thou know thyself, O fair one among women; thou who complainest that thou hast been left, unless thou know thyself, unless thou repent of thy fall, unless thou approve the intention of thy devotion, unless thy faith and sincerity be increased, complaint will profit nothing. Or thus: Unless thou know thyself, that thou art fair, unless thou keep the beauty of thy nature, and the allurements of the body do not overwhelm thee, nor hindrances detain thee, the nobility of a better creature will avail thee nothing.

6. Going Forth in Spirit to Rule the Flesh

Know thyself, therefore, and the beauty of thy nature, and go forth as with foot loosed from bonds, and put forth with bare footstep; that thou mayest not feel the carnal coverings: let not bodily bonds entangle the footstep of thy mind; that thy foot may appear beautiful. For such are they who are chosen by the Lord to announce the kingdom of heaven, of whom it is said: How beautiful are the feet of them that preach peace! Such was Moses, to whom it is said: Loose the shoes from off thy feet; that he, about to call the people to the kingdom of God, might first put off the coverings of the flesh, and walk with bare spirit, and with the footstep of the mind. This, then, is what she says: Go thou forth by the footsteps of the flocks, and feed thy kids beside the tents of the shepherds; because by flocks we understand a kingdom, since it belongs to power to preside over flocks.

And each man presides over himself with a certain royal power, if he restrain in himself the excesses of the body, and reduce his flesh to servitude. And therefore it is said: The kingdom of God is within you. Whence she beautifully says to the soul: Go forth, that is, go forth from servitude, go forth from the empire and dominion of the flesh: and go forth not in the flesh, but in the spirit: go forth to the rule of power. And therefore she added: Feed thy kids. Rule those things which are on thy left hand; for if they are not ruled, they easily fall away. Restrain the wantonness, the lasciviousness of thy body, and irrational luxury: tame its light movements, feed them not in bodily tabernacles, but in the tents of the shepherds, who know how to rule the flock.

For lovely are the tabernacles of Israel like shady groves upon a river, in which the soul, set as it were in battle array, wages a good warfare, explores the assaults of the enemy, seeks victory by the labor of virtue; that it may be compared to that mare which is Solomon's, swift to run, apt for bringing forth; since fecundity of soul is desired and sought.

7. The Soul Compared to Pharaoh's Mare

This mare, then, is precious, and the chariots of Pharaoh swift; which some refer to the Church and to the people. But of this mystery we have spoken elsewhere more often, and especially in the hundred and eighteenth Psalm. But in this place we have undertaken to speak of the soul. This soul is judged to be like this mare, that is, of prophetic or apostolic virtue, in that it is numbered among the flock of those who have filled the whole expanse of the earth with the fruitfulness of their preaching; and although placed in the body, they have felt no loss of spiritual course. And therefore she is praised because, illuminated by a heavenly precept, she is now beautiful, now fair, displaying in her countenance the beauty of chastity, and lifting up the ornaments of her neck, in which are the tokens of patience and humility. Such was the beauty, humility, and patience of the soul which the true Isaac loved; and therefore he eagerly sought her offspring.

8. Rebecca Conceives Two Nations Within Her Womb

Now Rebecca conceived, and by her patience loosed the knot of barrenness. Let us consider what the prophetic and apostolic soul brings forth, and how she brings it forth: She went, it says, to inquire of the Lord, because the infants leaped within her womb. And she received an answer: Two nations are in thy womb; since she presumes nothing of herself, but in all things asks God the Most High to preside over her counsels: at the same time, full of peace and piety, she unites two peoples by her faith and preaching, and encloses them as it were in her own womb.

9. Called Sister Rather Than Wife

She is not undeservedly called sister rather than wife, in that the gentle and peaceful soul takes rather the name of common piety than of a particular union; and because she deems herself bound rather to all than to one.

10. The Four Wells Isaac Dug

Isaac dug wells; and indeed many, which his father had dug, and which the strangers had filled up after the death of Abraham his father. Above the rest, however, he dug these wells: one in the valley of Gerar, and there found a well of living water: and the shepherds of Gerar strove with the shepherds of Isaac; because they claimed the water of that well as their own, and he called its name Injustice. And he dug another well, concerning which a dispute arose; and he gave it the name Enmities. And he dug a third, in which no strife arose between the shepherds, and he called it Breadth. He also dug the well of the Oath, and found no water in it; and he called it the well of the Oath.

11. The Spiritual Meaning of the Patriarchs' Wells

Who, reading these things, would think them earthly works rather than spiritual, that either Abraham dug wells, or Isaac, so great a patriarch indeed, or even Jacob, as we find also in the Gospel, as it were certain fountains of the human race, and especially of devotion and faith. For what is a well of living water, but the depth of profound doctrine? Whence Hagar too saw an angel at a well, and Jacob found for himself a wife, Rachel, at a well: Moses also, beside a well, established the first merits of his future marriage.

12. The Moral, Natural, and Mystical Meaning of the Wells

From the well of vision, therefore, Isaac began to open wells, and in good order; that the water of that well might first wash and cherish the rational faculty of the soul, and its eye, whereby it might make its sight clearer. He also dug many other wells. Whence it is written: Drink water from thy own vessels, and from the fountains of thy own wells. The more numerous they are, the more abundant is the overflow of graces. Yet he dug the well which his father Abraham had dug, concerning which the shepherds of Gerar made strife, that is, over the boundary wall. For where there is a boundary wall, there is division between those who oppose one another, there is injustice; and therefore he called it Injustice. He also dug another, and, dissension having arisen, he called it Enmities.

In these things moral doctrine seems to shine forth; in that, the wall of partition being removed, enmities have been dissolved in the flesh of man, and both have been made one in figure through Isaac, in truth through Christ; and deservedly afterward pure water was found in that well, as moral doctrine useful for drawing. What else does the well of Breadth signify but discipline concerning natural things? For which reason it is also called Breadth, because without contention, without strife, he is now quiet and secure who has surpassed these worldly and sensible things. Whence, the opposing and alien thoughts now being overcome (for what is so alien as all worldly things, which cannot be lasting), the wise man can say: The Lord hath enlarged us, and made us to grow upon the earth, because he has transcended earthly things. Last is the well of the Oath, in which God appeared to him, and said to him: Fear not, for I am with thee. And he blessed him. This teaching is now mystical.

13. Solomon's Three Books of Moral, Natural, and Mystical Wisdom

You have these things in Solomon; for his Proverbs are moral, Ecclesiastes is natural, in which he as it were despises the vanities of this world; his Song of Songs is mystical. You have it also in the prophet: Sow for yourselves unto justice, gather the vintage unto the fruit of life, light for yourselves the light of knowledge (Osee, 12). For this is the light of knowledge, to have the perfection of charity. And therefore it was said: Fear not; for charity casts out fear. But that we may know that Solomon likewise interpreted these wells in such a way as to refer them to moral teaching, and to natural, and to mystical, in each of his books which he wrote on moral, or natural, or mystical matters, he set down these wells.

14. The Proverbs on Drinking from Your Own Fountain

For also in the Proverbs, when he said that the outward show of worldly allurement should be shunned, he says: Drink water out of your own vessels, and out of the fountains of your own wells, and let your waters overflow from your own fountain. And below: Let the fountain of your water be your own, and rejoice with the wife; because true wisdom is a remedy for us against the temptations of the world. Moral teaching too, which washes away, by its own irrigation, the image of worldly pleasure smeared with certain meretricious paints, and wipes it clean with the flowing stream of its own fountain.

15. Ecclesiastes and the Pools of Natural Wisdom

Of natural matters too you have it said in Ecclesiastes: I made me pools of water to water the grove springing up from them. Nor let it trouble you that he put pools instead of a well; for Moses too called a well "of Breadth," because he who has transcended this world with a devout mind is freed from all anxiety and straitness. Not without reason, then, does Ecclesiastes have pools, he who saw that there is no abundance under the sun; but if anyone wishes to abound, let him abound in Christ.

16. The Mystical Well from the Song of Songs to Sychar

And of mystical matters there remains for us a well, which we find also in the Song of Songs itself, Scripture saying: A fountain of gardens, a well of living water, and flowing with a rush from Lebanon. For indeed if you pursue the depth of the mysteries, it seems to you a well, as though mystical wisdom were placed in the depths; but if you wish to draw the abundance of charity, which is greater and richer than faith and hope, then it is a fountain to you. For charity overflows, so that you may both draw it near at hand, and water with its abundance your garden overflowing with spiritual fruits. And because he who has charity is beyond this very well "of Breadth," therefore he said that where charity is, there a great rush descends from Lebanon.

But lest it trouble you that he called the same thing both well and fountain, let the Gospel also instruct you, in which it is written: That Jesus came into a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near the plot of ground that Jacob gave to Joseph his son. Now Jacob's fountain was there. And, it says, being wearied, he sat thus upon the well. Whence we recognize that this well is to be referred to mystical teaching also from the fact that there that Samaritan woman, that is, the guardian (for she is the guardian of heavenly precepts), drew from that well divine mysteries, knowing that God is a spirit, and is not worshipped in a place, but in spirit; and that the Messiah is Christ. And therefore he who is still awaited by the Jews has already come. Hearing which, that woman, who bears the figure of the Church, recognized the sacraments of the law, and believed.

17. The Threefold Wisdom Concluded in the Song of Songs

In the very book of the Songs, too, Solomon has clearly expressed this threefold wisdom; although in the Proverbs he said that he who wished to hear his wisdom should write it for himself in threefold manner. In the Songs, then, the bride says of the bridegroom: Behold, you are my kinsman spouse, indeed beautiful: our resting-place is shady, the beams of our houses are cedar, our ceilings are of cypress. We can take this in the moral sense. For where do Christ and the Church rest, but in the works of His people? Finally, where there was impudicity, where pride, where iniquity was, there the Lord Jesus said: But the Son of man has nowhere to lay his head.

18. Despising the World Beneath His Shadow

But what do we take of natural matters? Under his shadow, it says, I desired and sat down, and his fruit was sweet to my taste. For he who surmounts earthly things, and to whom worldly things are dead (since the world is crucified to him, and he to the world), flees and despises all things that are under the sun.

19. Christ as the Vine Embracing His People

Of mystical matters he also says: Bring me into the house of wine, set charity in order in me. For indeed, just as the vine embraces its own vineyard, so the Lord Jesus embraces His people, as an eternal vine, with certain arms of charity.

20. The Flower, the Sun, and Charity

Consider each in turn. In moral matters there is the flower, and the lily among thorns, as he himself says: I am the flower of the field, and the lily of the valleys. In moral matters, then, there is the flower. In natural matters, the sun of justice, who, rising and resurrecting, gives light, and setting, casts shadow. Beware lest it set for you, for it is written: Let not the sun go down upon your wrath. In mystical matters there is charity, because the fullness of the law is Christ. And therefore the Church, which loves Christ, is wounded by charity.

21. The Word Leaping Like a Young Hart

This charity, then, he arouses, and arouses again until she receives his voice, and summons his presence; for, being sought, he not only comes, but comes leaping: Leaping upon the mountains, and skipping over the hills. Upon souls of greater grace he leapt, over those of lesser grace he skipped. Or thus: leaping, how did he come? He came into this world by a certain leap. He was with the Father, he came into the Virgin, and from the Virgin he leapt into the manger. He was in the manger, and shone in heaven, he descended into the Jordan, ascended the cross, descended into the tomb, rose from the tomb, and sits at the right hand of the Father. Thence, like a young hart of the harts, which desires the fountains of waters, he descended upon Paul, and shone round about him, and leapt upon the holy Church, which is Bethel, which is called the house of God. For the calling of Paul is the firmness of the Church.

22. The Wall Removed and the Prophetic Windows

He comes, then, and first is behind the wall, that he may dissolve the enmities of soul and body, the wall being removed which seemed to bring an impediment to concord. Then he looks forth through the windows. Hear what the windows are, the prophet saying: The windows from heaven are open. He signifies, of course, the prophets, through whom the Lord looked upon the human race before he himself descended to the earth.

23. Seeking Christ Through the Windows and Nets

And today too, if any soul seeks him much, it will merit much mercy; since to him who seeks much, much is owed. If, then, any soul seeks him more zealously, it hears his voice from afar: and although it seeks along with others, in comparison with those from among whom it seeks, it hears his voice. It sees him coming leaping toward itself, that is, hastening and running, and skipping over those who by their weak heart cannot grasp his virtue; then it sees him looking forth through the enigmas of the prophets, by reading them and holding fast their words, it sees him looking forth, but as through a window, not yet as present. It sees him standing above the nets. What is this, unless perhaps that those nets are ours, not his? They are nets, because that soul is still amid sensible and worldly things, which are wont to ensnare the mind of man and to enfold it, as it were, in their own bosom.

To one still set amid worldly things, then, but nevertheless seeking him, he shows himself through the nets.

24. Arise, My Neighbor: The Call to Come

Then he says to a soul of this kind: Arise, come, my neighbor, that is, arise from the delights of the world, arise from earthly things, and come to me, you who still labor, and are burdened, because you are anxious over the things of the world. Come above the world, come to me, for I have conquered the world. Come near to me, now beautiful with the beauty of eternal life, now a dove, that is, gentle and mild, now wholly full of spiritual grace. Rightly, then, she ought no longer to fear the nets, since he who calls the soul to himself could not be caught by the enticements and nets of the world. For while we men walk in the midst of snares, through desire of food we are alike liable to nets and snares. He, though placed in a body, did not fear nets, but stood above the nets, that is, above the temptations of the world and the passions of the body; nay, he even made others stand above them.

And therefore, wishing to establish this soul also, he said: Arise, come, my neighbor, fear not the nets.

25. Winter Passed, Flowers of Christ's Coming

Now the winter has passed, that is, the passover has come, indulgence has come, the remission of sins has come, temptation has ceased, the storm has gone, the tempest has gone, and the shaking. Before the coming of Christ it is winter, after his coming there are flowers. Whence he says: Flowers have appeared in the land. Where before there were thorns, now there are flowers. The time, he says, of cutting has come. Where before there was desert, now there is harvest. The voice of the turtledove has been heard in our land. Well did the prophet add, "our," as though marveling that where before there was impudicity, now there is chastity.

26. The Fig Tree Begins to Bear Fruit

The fig tree has put forth her green figs. She who before was ordered to be cut down as fruitless has now begun to bear fruit. But why do you doubt because he said "green figs"? He shakes off the earlier ones, so that he may bring forth better later ones. The green fig, like the fruit of the Synagogue, is cast away: but that of the Church is renewed.

27. Secure in the Covering of the Rock

And although there is full tranquility, and the mysteries have grown ripe, yet again he says: Arise, secure in the covering of the rock, that is, safe by the protection of my passion, and the fortification of faith. For they sucked honey out of the rock, and oil out of the hardest rock. Clothed with this covering, the souls of the devout are no longer naked, and this is their fortification. And therefore he also says to this soul: And come, you, my dove, in the covering of the rock, near the fortification, show me your face, and let your voice sound in my ears. He exhorts to confidence, that she may not blush at the cross of Christ, nor at its seal. He exhorts to confession, he wants all snares removed; that the good odor of faith may breathe forth, that the day may shine, and that the shadow of adverse night may not harm; since he who is near Christ says: The night is past, and the day is at hand.

There is also the shadow of worldly things which has passed, and the day of heavenly things, which is Christ, who shines upon his saints. This soul receives these as good pledges of charity.

1. The Third Stage: Seeking Him by Night

The third progress of the soul.—But because we ought always to be watchful, always intent; and because the Word of God leaps like a young roe, or like a hart's fawn, let the soul always be vigilant, and stretch forward to where it seeks him, and to what it desires to hold. Therefore, as though he had slipped away from her, she says: In my bed, in the nights I sought him whom my soul loves. He who seeks well should seek in his bed, should seek in the nights, and let there be no day, nor let there be nights, exempt. Let no time be free from the duty of devotion; and if she does not find him at first, let her persevere in seeking. And therefore she says: I will rise, then, and will seek in the city, in the marketplace, in the streets. And perhaps she has not yet found him for this reason, that she sought in the marketplace, where there are lawsuits; in the streets, where there are markets of things for sale.

For Christ is not bought with any money.

2. Seeking Christ in the City and Marketplace

We may understand it also this way. In her bed she seeks Christ, she who seeks him with tranquility, with peace. In the nights she seeks, since he used to speak through parables. For he made darkness his hiding-place; and night to night shows knowledge. Then, because the things we say in our heart ought to prick us in our beds. But even so she does not find him, and therefore she says: I will rise, that is, I will raise up and lift my intention, that I may seek diligently, seek with care: I will enter into the city. There is also a soul which says: I am a fortified city, I am a besieged city. There is a city fortified through Christ, there is that city, Jerusalem in heaven, in which the interpreters of the divine law abound, and men skilled in doctrine: through them the Word of God is sought.

I will seek, she says, in the marketplace of that city, in that marketplace where the learned in the law deal, where oil is sold, which the Gospel virgins buy, that their lamps may always shine, and the smoke of iniquity not extinguish them. I will seek, she says, in the streets in which waters overflow, gushing forth from those fountains, of which Solomon says one should drink.

3. Passing the Watchmen to Find the Word

While therefore she seeks Christ, she finds the watchmen who are in the ministry, of these she inquires. But the soul that seeks God passes even the watchmen. For there are mysteries which even the Angels desire to see. Whence Peter says: These things, he says, were announced to you by those who evangelized you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, into which the angels desire to look (I Peter, 12). Therefore he who has passed the watchmen finds the Word. John passed by, who found the Word with the Father.

4. Finding Christ Quickly Amid Persecution

Many also there are who seek Christ in leisure, and do not find him, and find him in persecutions, and find him quickly. And therefore, as it were after temptations, because he is present at the perils of his faithful ones: A little while, she says, when I had passed by them, I found him, I held him, and I did not let him go. For everyone who seeks, finds; and he who has found ought to cling fast, lest he be able to lose him.

5. Mary and Magdalene Seek Christ at the Tomb

And since through the Gospel we see heavenly mysteries figured on earth, let us come to that Mary, let us come also to Magdalene. Let us consider how they sought Christ in the couch of his body, in which he lay dead, in the nights, when the angel said to them: You seek Jesus who was crucified: he is not here, for he has risen. Why then do you seek the living among the dead? Why do you seek in the sepulchre him who is now in heaven? Why do you seek, in the bonds of burial, him who loosens the bonds of all? Not the sepulchre is his seat, but heaven. Therefore one of these said: I sought him, and did not find him.

6. Holding Christ's Feet: Do Not Touch Me

Yet while they go to announce it to the Apostles, taking pity on those who sought him, Jesus meets them, saying: Hail. And they came near, and held his feet, and worshipped him. Jesus is therefore held, but he delights to be held thus, because he is held by faith. Indeed that woman also delighted him who touched him, and was cured of the flow of blood, of whom he said: Someone has touched me; for I perceive that virtue has gone out from me. Touch him, then, and hold him by faith, and grasp his feet faithfully; that virtue may go out from him, and heal your soul. And if he says: Do not touch me: do you hold him; for I have not yet ascended to my Father, he said once. He said: Do not touch me, when he rose again: or perhaps he said this to her who thought he had been stolen away, and not raised again by his own power.

Indeed in another book you have it, that to those who held his feet and worshipped he said: Do not be afraid. Hold him then, you too, O soul, as Mary also held him, and say: I held him, and I will not let him go, as both said: Let us hold you. Go to the Father, but do not leave Eve behind, lest she slip again. Lead her with you, no longer erring, but holding the tree of life. Snatch her, clinging to your feet, that she may ascend with you: do not let me go, lest the serpent again pour out his poisons, lest he again seek to bite the woman's footstep, that he may supplant Adam. Let your soul then say: I hold you, and I will bring you into my mother's house, and into the secret chamber of her that conceived me; that I may know your mysteries, that I may draw in your sacraments.

Receive, then, Eve no longer covered with fig leaves, but clothed with the Holy Spirit, and glorious with new grace; because she is no longer hidden as one naked, but comes forth as one surrounded with the splendor of shining raiment, because grace clothes her. But neither was Adam at first naked, when innocence clothed him.

7. Who Is This Coming Up from the Desert

Seeing her, then, clinging to Christ, and still ascending with him (for he deigns to meet those who seek him, and frequently condescends to lift them up), the daughters of Jerusalem say: Who is this that comes up from the desert? This desert place of the earth seems uncultivated and untended, overgrown with the thorns and briers of our sins. They wonder, namely, how the soul, which before was abandoned in hell, clings to the Word of God, and has ascended like the shoot of a vine, raising itself upward, like smoke born of fire, seeking the heights, and moreover glowing with good works. That fragrance of pious prayer breathes forth sweetness, which is directed like incense in the sight of God.

And in the Apocalypse we read that: The smoke of the incenses went up from the prayers of the saints, which incensed things are carried by an angel—namely the prayers of the saints—over that golden altar which is before the throne of God, and, as it were, breathes forth the sweet ointment of pious supplication; because it is composed of the petition of eternal and invisible things, not of bodily ones: yet it smells chiefly of myrrh and frankincense, because it is dead to sins, and lives to God.

8. Brought to Rest on Solomon's Bed

Seeing her, then, ascending and not resisting, and delighted by the fragrances of her merits, recognizing also that she is the bride of that peaceful Solomon, they follow her also with careful company as far as the bed of Solomon; because true rest in Christ is owed to her. For the bed of the saints is Christ, in which the hearts of all, wearied by worldly battles, find rest. In this bed Isaac rested, and blessed the younger son, saying: The elder shall serve the younger. Reclining in this bed, Jacob blessed the twelve Patriarchs. Reclining in this bed, the daughter of the ruler of the synagogue rose from death. Lying in this bed, the dead son of the widow, called by the voice of Christ, had the bonds of death dissolved.

9. The Nuptial Song and Solomon's Crown

The bride, then, having been brought to the rest of the bridegroom, they sing the nuptial song, saying to the daughters of Jerusalem: Go forth, and see king Solomon in the crown with which his mother crowned him on the day of his espousals. They sing the wedding song, and call the other powers of the heavens, or souls; that they may see the love which Christ has toward the daughters of Jerusalem. Whence also he deserved to be crowned by his mother as the son of charity, as Paul shows, saying: For God delivered us from the power of darkness, and translated us into the kingdom of the son of his charity. The son of charity, therefore, is himself charity too, not having charity from accidents, but having it always in his substance as a kingdom, of which he says: For this was I born.

And therefore they say: Go forth, that is, come out from the anxieties and thoughts of the world, come out from bodily confines, come out from the vanities of the world, and see how great charity the peaceful king has on the day of his espousals; how glorious he is, because he gave resurrection to bodies, and joined souls to himself. This is the crown of a great contest, this the glorious gift of Christ's espousals, his blood and passion. For what more could he give, who did not even spare himself, and offered his own soul unto death for us?

10. Come from Lebanon: The Call to Leave the Body

The Lord Jesus himself also, delighted by the faith, confession, and grace of this soul, and having praised her merits, calls her nearer, saying: Come here from Lebanon, my bride, come here from Lebanon: you shall pass and pass through from the beginning of faith, from the top of Sanir and Hermon, from the dens of lions, from the mountains of leopards, that is: Come out of the body, and strip yourself entirely. For you cannot be with me, unless you first become a pilgrim from the body; since those who are in the flesh are pilgrims from the kingdom of God. Come, he says, come. He rightly repeated it, because whether present or absent, you ought to be with and pleasing to the Lord your God. Be present when present, be present when absent, even while you are still in the body. For to me all are present whose faith is with me. He is present to me, who has gone forth from the world.

He is present to me, who thinks of me, gazes upon me, hopes in me, to whom I am a portion. He is present to me, who has been absent from himself. He is present to me, who has denied himself to himself. He is with me, who is not within himself; since he who is in the flesh is not in the spirit. He is with me, who goes forth out of himself. He is near me, who has been outside himself. He is whole to me, who for my sake has lost his soul. And therefore, come, O bride, come, you shall pass through from the beginning of faith. She passes through and crosses over from the earth, and passes through she who has come to Christ.

She passes by the merit of faith, and the brightness of works, which shines like Sanir and Hermon, that is, like the way of a lamp she passes, the temptations of the world having been conquered, and the wickednesses of the spirits overcome, seeking the crown of lawful contest; and therefore she deserved to be praised by Christ's own judgment.

11. A Garden Enclosed, a Fountain Sealed

A garden enclosed is my sister, my bride, a garden enclosed, a fountain sealed, your outflowings are a paradise of pomegranates with the fruit of apples of Cyprus. The bride is praised, in that she is a garden, having in herself the fragrance of that full field, of which Isaac says: The smell of my son is as the smell of a full field. The good soul, then, breathes with the fragrance of righteousness. And perhaps the field is the Patriarch; the garden is the soul of some lesser one, as it were a portion of the field; and it is a closed garden, lest it be invaded by beasts; and a sealed fountain, because by integrity of the seal and perseverance of faith she has washed away her own sins.

For she who has received it from the Church, has that which she may refer to the grace of virginity; because, placed in the paradise of delight, she reaps spiritual fruits without labor, so that the souls of the patriarchs, by a certain rustic labor, contribute their fruits to her, whereby she may be able to grasp perpetual sweetness. She is rightly called a sealed fountain, because the image of the invisible God is expressed in her. They praise also the gifts of the soul, which were sent from the bridegroom, with which, dowered, she came. But the dowry of the pious soul is good odors, myrrh, aloes, saffron, with which the grace of gardens breathes, and the stench of sins is abolished.

12. The North and South Winds in the Garden

Therefore, secure with such acclaim, she asks that the heavy north wind grow still, lest it scatter the flowers, and that the south wind blow, that is, she wishes the winter to pass by, and the gentler breath of spring's mildness to come. She invites the bridegroom into her garden. The bridegroom comes down, and, delighted by the variety of its fruits, rejoices that he has found a stronger food, has found also a sweeter one. For there is, as it were, a certain bread of the word, and honey: one discourse more vehement, another more persuasive. And there is another faith more fervent, like wine: another more limpid, like the juice of milk. This food Christ feasts on in us, this cup he drinks, and the intoxication of his drink invites us, that we may make a passage over from lesser things to the better and the best.

1. The Fourth Stage: I Sleep, My Heart Watches

Hearing these things, the soul has drunk in the intoxication of heavenly mysteries, and as though made drowsy with wine, and as it were placed in ecstasy or stupor, says: I sleep, but my heart watches. Then, struck by the light of the Word present, when she had rested with lowered eyes, she is awakened by the Word. Now this is the fourth stage of the soul. For first, indeed, impatient of love, and unable to bear the delays of the Word, she asked that she might merit kisses, and she merited to see him whom she desired. Second, having also been brought into the king's chamber, when she exchanged mutual conversation, she rested in his shadow, and suddenly the Word departed from her in the midst of speaking; yet he was not long absent from her as she sought him, but came leaping upon the mountains and bounding over the hills. Not long after, like a young roe or a fawn of the hart, while speaking to his beloved, he leapt away and left her.

Third, when she had not found him whom she sought in the bedchamber, and in the nights, in the city, in the marketplace, and in the streets, she at length recalled him by her prayers and by grace, so that she was even called nearer by the bridegroom. Fourth, she herself, now sleeping, is awakened by him, although her heart kept watch, so that she might at once hear the voice of him knocking. But having suffered delay while she rises, because she could not grasp the swiftness of the Word, while she opens the door, the Word had passed by, and she herself went forth at his word, and, sought through wounds—but wounds of love—she scarcely at last found him, and held him, so that afterward she should not lose him. In sum, I have touched upon these things in a brief discourse. Now let us examine them one by one.

2. Christ Knocks: Open to Me, My Sister

And if you are asleep, if only Christ has known the devotion of your soul, he comes, and knocks at her door, and says: Open to me, my sister. Well does he say sister, because the marriage is a spiritual one, of the Word and the soul. For souls know not the bonds of wedlock, nor the practice of bodily union, but are like the angels in heaven. Open, he says, to me, but close to strangers: close to the age, close to the world, and do not go forth yourself to those material things, nor, forsaking your own light, seek an alien one; because material light pours in a dark gloom, so that the light of true glory cannot be seen. Open then to me, do not open to the adversary, nor give place to the devil. Open your very self to me, be not straitened, but be enlarged, and I will fill you.

And because, having run through the circuit of the earth, I have found more trouble and offense, and have not easily had where to rest: therefore do you open, that in you the Son of man may lay his head, for whom there is no rest except upon the humble and meek.

3. I Have Put Off My Tunic: Reluctance to Rise

The soul hearing: Open to me [lacuna] and my head full of dew, that is, being suddenly disturbed by worldly temptations, and as one about to rise who was bidden to rise, said, while she breathed of aloe and myrrh, tokens of burial: I have put off my tunic, how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet, how shall I soil them? For she fears lest she rise again into temptations, lest she return again into guilt and sin, and begin to soil her goings-forth and the advances of her virtues with earthly footprints. Certainly she also indicates in this way the perfection of her virtue, who has merited such great love of Christ; that he should come to her, and knock at her door, and come with the Father, and sup with that same soul, and she with him, as John said in the Apocalypse.

For when in the foregoing she had heard: Come here from Lebanon, my spouse, come here from Lebanon; and when she perceived that in the flesh she could not be present to Christ, but would be present then, if she were present in spirit; conforming herself to his will, that she too might be conformed to the image of Christ, she no longer feels the spoils of the flesh; now, as it were a spirit, she puts off from herself the conjunction of the body; now as if forgetful, and unable, even should she wish, to remember that union, she says: I have put off my tunic, how shall I put it on? For she put off that tunic of skins, which Adam and Eve received after their fault, the tunic of corruption, the tunic of the passions. How shall I put it on? She does not ask to put it on; but thus signifies it as cast away, so that it could no longer be a garment for her.

That is, I have washed my footsteps, when I went forth, and raised myself from the fellowship of the body, from that connection and familiarity of carnal embrace, how shall I soil them, that they should return into the prison-house of the body, and that dark dungeon of its passions?

4. My Hands Dropped with Myrrh

While she says these things, the Word sent his working as it were through a chink, not yet face to face, sent as it were a hand: And my belly, she says, was troubled at him. And I rose up to open to my brother. My hands dropped with myrrh, my fingers were full of myrrh upon the handles of the lock. Let us consider what this signifies. First, as I said, God the Word appears through his works as it were through a chink, not fully and perfectly: then love grows, and the conception increases, and from his seeds which the soul has received in a certain intelligible womb, she desires to see the whole fullness of his divinity dwelling in him bodily, as we read. She rose, that she might see that Word of God more closely. And in this very thing her progress is signified, in that she rose up through vigor and virtue.

For the soul drew virtue from the presence of the Word, just as the presence of Mary, when she was heavy with child, instructed John while yet placed in the womb, so that he leaped in the womb, and rejoiced, recognizing the presence of the Lord. She rose to open, and her works and deeds were mortified to the world. For such ought the soul to be which is to receive the Word, that it die to the world, and follow after Christ. For so is Christ found, and such a lodging he seeks for himself. Then the very ministries of her operations, that is, the hands and fingers by which Christ is grasped, are mortified—which fingers we may reckon as the projecting works of our deeds. And so, as it were from her embrace, when she had already stretched forth her intelligible hands and fingers, to grasp the Word, the pious soul says that it had passed by her, yet not so far passed through her.

And this progress occurs, when the Word of God passes and passes through the soul; because it is written: And a sword shall pass through your own soul, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed. Here it is still only passing by, not passed through: as Mary perhaps in what follows is passed through, where the Lord Jesus is placed as a seal in her midst.

5. Going Forth from Babylon in the Word

Then straightway another advance of the Word passing by; for the soul went forth in his word, that is, having followed his word she went forth from the body, raising herself from its dwelling-place, and making herself a pilgrim to it, that she might be present to God, and be a citizen of the saints. For we cannot at once be domestics of the flesh, and belong to God. Therefore in this place the soul is signified to go forth, as I said, when she withdraws herself from the pleasures of the body. Then it is written: Go forth from Babylon, fleeing from the Chaldeans. Not, surely, that the Hebrew should flee the region of Babylon, but he is admonished by prophetic speech as to his ways; since there are those who are Hebrews while in Babylon, and by their ways show that they have gone forth from Babylon. For those of whom the Prophet says that they sat by the rivers of Babylon, sat indeed in the region of Babylon, but were not in its vices and confusion.

For how were they in that confusion of vices, who wept, doing penance because they had fallen from the ark of devotion, and of faith, and of the merits of paternal virtue? But the soul which goes forth in the Word seeks the Word.

6. The Watchmen Strike Her and Take Her Mantle

Whence also this soul, while she sought, fell in with the watchmen that go about the city: They struck me, she says, and wounded me, the keepers of the walls took away my mantle from me. Well did she, as a certain bride, come with a mantle with which to veil her head when the bridegroom should meet her. As Rebecca, who, having learned that Isaac was coming to meet her, got down from the camel, and covered herself with a mantle: so also this soul was going before with the tokens of the nuptial garment; lest perchance she be rejected, as one not having a wedding garment; or that she might veil her head on account of the angels. But they struck her, that she might be the more proved. For souls are exercised by temptations. They took away her mantle from her, testing whether she brought the true beauty of naked virtue: or because one ought to enter that heavenly city without covering, bearing with them no coverings of disguise.

There are also those who inquire, lest any soul carry with it the spoils of carnal allurement, and bodily concupiscence. She is stripped of her mantle, when her conscience is made manifest. But there is also one who is well stripped, who may imitate one who says: For the prince of this world is coming, and in me he will find nothing; because certainly in him alone is found nothing, who did no sin. Blessed too is that soul in whom he finds nothing heavy or much: but finds in her the mantle of faith, and the discipline of wisdom.

7. Seeking the Word Among the Lilies

Therefore without loss to herself (because though one may wish it, he cannot take away true wisdom: though the adversary rage, yet there the true integrity of a blameless life shines forth), without loss then she passed by the watchmen, and, mingled with the daughters of that heavenly city, seeks the Word, and by seeking rouses his love toward herself, and comes to know where she may seek the Word. That he tarries among the prayers of the saints, and that he cleaves to them, she knows, and that he feeds his Church, or the souls of his righteous ones, among the lilies, she understands. This mystery the Lord showed you in the Gospel, when on the sabbath he led his disciples through the sown fields. Moses led the people of the Jews through the desert: Christ leads through the sown fields, Christ leads through the lilies; because through his passion the desert also flowers like a lily.

Let us follow, then, that on the day of the sabbath, of that great sabbath, in which there is great rest, we may gather fruit. And do not fear that the Pharisees will accuse one who gathers the sown grain. Even if they accuse, yet Christ excuses, and makes like to the souls he wills, which follow him, that David of old, who above the law ate the loaves of proposition, already then foreseeing in mind the sacraments of the new grace by prophetic insight.

1. The Bridegroom Praises the Perfected Soul

She is praised, then, by the bridegroom, because she has sought him so well and so steadfastly; and therefore she is now called not only sister, but is also named well-pleasing, as one pleasing to him who was pleasing to the Father; and beautiful as Jerusalem, as an ordered wonder, because she possesses all the mysteries of the eternal city, and is a wonder to all who behold her; because, full as equity, and perfect, and having borrowed brightness from the light of the Word, while she ever gazes upon it; she becomes also terrible, by a certain order, having advanced to the height of virtues. Therefore, as to one now perfect, he says: Turn away your eyes from me, do not gaze upon me, for she, through excessive devotion and faith, has surpassed the possibility of her nature and proper condition, because it is a grievous thing to look directly upon the inaccessible light. Turn away, he says, your eyes from me; because she cannot bear the fullness of his divinity, and the splendor of the true light.

Yet we may also understand it thus: Turn away your eyes from me. Even though you are perfect, there are still other souls for me to redeem, others to be upheld. For you lift me up by beholding me; but I came down for this, that I might lift up all. And though I have risen, and hold the seat of the Father, yet I will not leave you orphans, deprived as it were of paternal protection, but I will strengthen you by my presence. You have this written in the Gospel: Behold, I am with you even to the consummation of the world. Turn away your eyes from me, then, because you lift me up. For the more one gazes upon the Lord, the more he lifts up the Lord, and is himself lifted up. Whence also that one says: I will extol you, O Lord, for you have upheld me. For the saint exalts the Lord, the sinner debases him.

He wishes, then, to turn away her eyes, lest, considering that she can now follow him to the higher things, she be lifted up, and forsake the other souls. Therefore also in the Gospel he showed his glory not to all the disciples, but to the more perfect. Suppose now some teacher, who wishes to open up an obscure matter to his hearers: however powerful he himself may be in speech and knowledge, he condescends nevertheless to the ignorance of those who do not understand, and uses simple and plainer and more common speech, that he may be understood. Whoever, then, among his hearers is quicker in perception, who can easily follow, he lifts him up and shakes him off. Seeing this, the teacher calls him back, that he may suffer the teacher rather to linger among the humbler and plainer things, so that the rest also may be able to follow.

2. Aquila's Rendering of the Revealed and Shining Soul

What Aquila says: Sounding as revealed, he referred the sounding to worthy admiration, as one having great and resounding works: revealed, with reference to the brightness of her works; or because the works of her soul shine before the Father who is in heaven. Whence you understand it is not without purpose that her mantle was taken away, that she might shine, open and bare, with her merits.

3. The Soul as a Dove of Unity and Peace

She is praised, moreover, because she is faithful, because powerful in word, because fruitful with diverse fruits, because one, like a dove, having the unity of the spirit, in which there is peace, which made both one: and which is not composed of diverse elements of a discrete and conflicting nature. For what is so diverse as fire and water, air and earth, of which the creation of our body consists? But the soul, wholly blessed, wholly simple, imitates him who says: That all may be one, as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us. This is the consummation and perfection. Whence also he added: That they may be one, as we also are one: I in them, and you in me, that they may be made perfect in one. This, then, is the soul, a dove, one and perfect, which, being simple and spiritual, is not troubled by the passions of this body, in which without are fightings, within are fears.

Then Scripture teaches us that by this word of unity concord and peace are signified, saying: Now the multitude of believers had one heart and one soul, and there was no separation at all among them.

4. Fruitfulness and Barrenness of the Soul

Nor is the soul's fecundity praised idly, not only because it is fruitful in virtues, but also because it has nothing evil in itself. For that is comely and beautiful in which there is nothing evil. For the comely is that which is good; but that which is uncomely, this is evil. The fecundity of good works is beautiful; contrary therefore to beauty is barrenness, since whoever is deprived of beauty or comeliness, in that is evil; but that which is evil, this is barren and unfruitful. What clearer indication of this thing than nature itself? For the earth which is good is fertile and fruitful; but that which is bad, this is barren and sterile; and that which is fertile is also comely. For what is more beautiful than a full field, when the crop waves, when the fruits redden, or when the clusters of grapes hang down, or the olive bends curved, laden with berries, or the mountain-tops are clothed with green grass, and the low valleys?

And to use the testimony of Scripture, Jacob was comely, and therefore there was the smell of a full field: Esau was hairy and uncomely, and therefore he was wild, who could have no fruits. Of the Lord himself too, after he made the fecundity of the Church arise, it is beautifully said: The Lord has reigned, he has put on comeliness. And elsewhere: Thou hast put on confession and beauty. It is clear therefore that the comely is that which is fruitful; the uncomely, that which is unfruitful. The case of the soul is like that of the ground; because that soul is comely which is fruitful in merits, fruitful in counsels: that one uncomely which is barren. For the infirmities of the soul are barrenness and matter; for barrenness defrauds it of its fruit, brings in poverty, strikes fear, kindles desires and vain opinions: thus the soul falls. What then is malice, but the lack of good?

For it is defrauded of its own, and is in need of what is another's, and is emptied and filled without any measure or moderation. But material vices overshadow the grace of the soul. Ignorance and concupiscence are sicknesses of the soul, but they are referred more to form than to matter. Matter is the flesh, form is ignorance and concupiscence. Why then is the flesh accused, when there are such great stains in form? Because form can do nothing without matter. In short, form does nothing safely without matter. For what would concupiscence be, unless the flesh inflamed it? It grows cold in old men, and in boys too, because in these the body is weak; it burns in the young, in whom the strength of the body is fervent. From good things therefore evils have arisen; for they are not evils, except things that are deprived of goods. Yet through evils it has come about that goods stand out.

Therefore the lack of good is malice, and by the definition of good, malice is discovered, since through the discipline of the good, evil is found out. But the good has need of nothing, is sufficient to itself, and grants measure, and perfection, and end too to all things, in which all things consist, and on which all things depend. This is the nature of the good, which fills the mind.

5. The Soul as a Sparrow Escaping the Snare

Around this the pure soul is engaged; this it looks into, and beholds God, and abounds in all good things. Whence too she says: His throat is sweetness, and he is all desire. For God is the author of all good things; and whatever things exist, are indeed all his. Nowhere there is evil; and if our mind remains in him, it knows not evil. The soul therefore which does not remain in God is itself the author of its own evils; and so it sins: but the soul which sins, it itself shall die. For loosed from the golden bonds of the virtues, it is borne headlong downward, and slips to the lower things. But the soul is blessed which no adverse battles of the body overcome. This soul, like a sparrow, flies away when the snare is broken. For the foods of evils are bodily pleasures. Whoever is intent upon these, entangles his own soul in a snare.

6. She Looks Forth Like the Dawn

But he who abstains from her foods, and goes out from her darkness, his soul shines like the dawn, of whom it is said: Who is she that looks forth like the dawn, beautiful as the moon? For she looks forth as it were from a free house. Nor does she say: Darkness covers me, and walls surround me, and who knows if the Most High sees? But she rather seeks the light, as though in the upper parts of her house, that is, of her body, and, placed above the world, gazes upon divine things, and raises herself to eternal things, that she may be present to God, now carrying about the light of her works, like the moon carrying its orb around the whole earth.

7. Aquila's Sounding Like the Sun and the Spheres

But what Aquila says, "Sounding like the sun," seems to express that revolution of the heavenly axis, and the course of the sun and moon and stars, and the concord of the spheres; it seems so also to some of our own, who, although it does not find belief, yet on account of the grace of its sweetness does not seem foreign.

1. The Garden of the Nut and Peter's Restoration

While she is praised by the bridegroom, modestly shrinking from being praised in his presence, then recalled by love of the bridegroom, she says: I went down into the garden of the nut to see in the birth of the torrent. For where is the Church, except where the priestly rod and grace flourish? There it is often, that it may be proved in bitternesses and temptations. By the nut we understand bitternesses, by the torrent temptations, yet tolerable ones, because it is written: Our soul has passed through the torrent. And so she goes down into the place of bitterness, where the vine flourishes, and the diverse and manifold fruit in the likeness of pomegranates, which is guarded as it were by one covering of faith and charity over the whole body. In that bitterness, then, the soul did not know herself; for the corruptible body weighs down the soul, and the earthly dwelling is quickly bowed down. But she ought always to know herself.

But Peter too was tempted, and Peter did not know himself; for if he had known himself, he would not have denied his author. But Christ knew him; in short, he knew him, who also looked upon him (for the Lord knows those who are his own), and, as a good ruler, recalled him from his fall with the reins of his mercy, as his own. Our ruler, then, is Christ.

2. The Soul as the Chariot of Aminadab

And so the soul says: He has set me in the chariots of Aminadab. The soul, then, is a chariot which sustains the good ruler. If the soul is a chariot, it has horses either good or bad. The good horses are the virtues of the soul; the bad horses are the passions of the body. The good ruler, then, restrains and calls back the bad horses, and urges on the good. The good horses are four: prudence, temperance, fortitude, justice. The bad horses are wrath, concupiscence, fear, iniquity. Sometimes the horses themselves disagree among themselves, and either wrath surges forward, or fear, and they hinder one another, and slow the course. But the good horses fly, and raise themselves from the earth to the higher things, and lift up the soul, especially if they have a sweet yoke and a light burden of him who says: Take my yoke upon you; for my yoke is sweet and my burden is light.

He himself is the ruler who knows how to govern his own horses, so that the course of all may be equal. If prudence is swifter, justice slower, he admonishes the elder one with his own whip; if temperance is gentler, fortitude harder, he knows how to couple the discordant ones, lest they scatter his chariot. And so it is permitted, in an intelligible spectacle, to see each single soul with the utmost struggle being caught up to heaven, the horses hastening which shall arrive first at the prize of Christ, so that the palm may be placed on their necks first. These are the horses subjected to the yoke of faith, bound by the bond of charity, by the reins of justice, by the restraints of sobriety. Beautifully, then, she says: He has set me in the chariots of Aminadab, that is, "father of the people"; but he who is father of the people is the same as the father of Naason, that is, of serpents.

Now recall who it was that hung like a serpent on the cross for the salvation of all, and you will understand that soul to be peaceable, over whom God the Father presides, Christ being the driver; because this too is written, this very name, among our people: Father, father, driver of Israel.

3. Return, Sunamite, and Christ Mounts the Soul

This driver, then, says: Return, Sunamite, return. Well, as if a driver, and as it were to a chariot, he says: Return, Sunamite, that is, peaceable one. For the soul that is peaceable quickly turns and corrects herself, even if she has sinned before, and Christ mounts her all the more, and deigns to rule her, to whom it is said: Mount upon your horses, and your riding is health. And elsewhere: I have sent your horses of Tarshish. Those are the horses of Christ. Christ, then, mounts his own horses; the Word of God mounts pious souls.

4. Ascending to the Palm Tree of Victory

From this know that he mounted this soul too, and led her to the place of the palm, when he also says to her: How beautiful and how sweet you have become, charity, in your delights! Your stature has become like the palm tree. And she herself says: I said, I will climb up into the palm tree. But even charity itself is a palm; for it is the fullness of victory. For the fullness of the law is charity. Let us run, then, that we may lay hold; let us run, that we may conquer. He who conquers ascends into the palm, and eats its fruits. He who conquers no longer runs, but sits, as it is written: He who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered, and sit with my Father on his throne.

Hence the philosophers described those chariot-races of souls in their books, yet could not reach the palm; because they did not know the summit of the Word and the height of souls, which this soul knew, in whom was the turning of the Word.

5. Three Stages of the Soul's Union with the Word

For thus she says: I am my brother's, and his turning is toward me. This sense she repeated three times, differently, in the Song of Songs. In the beginning she says: My brother is mine, and I am his, who feeds among the lilies, until the day breathe, and the shadows retire. Then she says: I am my brother's, and my brother is mine, who feeds among the lilies. At the end she says: I am my brother's, and his turning is toward me. The first pertains to the instruction of the soul; and so she prefaced it: My brother is mine; for by his showing himself, the soul too took up the affection of cleaving to God: what follows pertains to progress; the third, to perfection.

In the first, as it were in her instruction, the soul still sees shadows, not yet moved by the revelation of the approaching Word, but for this reason the day of the Gospel had not yet shone upon her: in the second, without confusion of shadows, she gathers pious fragrances: in the third, now perfect, she ministers rest in herself to the Word; that he may turn toward her and lay down his head, and rest, and she, now holding as merit what before she could not find though sought, invites him to her field, saying:

6. Come, My Brother, Let Us Go into the Field

Come, my brother, let us go out into the field, let us rest in the villages. Sweetly she was inviting to the garden; here she invites to the field, having not only the grace of flowers, but also wheat and barley, that is, the firm foundations of solid virtues, that he may behold its fruit. Let us rest, she says, in the villages, to which Adam, when he had been cast out of paradise, had been banished: in these he rested, but he worked the earth. But for what reason she wishes him to go out into the field, the meaning is plain: that, like a good shepherd, he may feed his flock, relieve the weary, call back the wandering. For even if this soul had kept for him things new and old, still there are yet, as it were, lambs, who must be nourished with the milk's juice.

Therefore, as one already perfect, she intercedes not for herself but for others, that he may go forth from the bosom of the Father, that he may proceed outward as a bridegroom coming forth from his chamber, may run the way that he may win the weak, not lingering in that secret throne of the Father, and in that light, which the feeble cannot follow: but that he may be taken up and led into the house of the bride, and into her secret place. Let him be outside for himself, that he may be within for us; let him be in the midst of us, even if he is not seen by us.

7. Finding the Bridegroom Outside to Keep Him Within

Whence she says: Who will give you to me, brother, nursing at my mother's breasts? Finding you outside, I will kiss you. It is good for the soul to be outside, that the Word may be within: outside the body, that the Word may dwell in us.

8. Taking In the Word Who Knocks at the Door

I will take you, she says, and I will lead you in. Rightly is the Word of God taken and led in; because he knocks at the soul, that the door may be opened to him. And unless he finds the door open to him, he does not enter. But if anyone opens the door, he enters and dines. Thus the bride takes the Word, so that in taking him she may be taught; whence not undeservedly she still ascends to higher dwellings, and always receives advancement.

9. Ascending in White, Leaning on the Word

Which the powers signify when they say, or the soul says: Who is this that ascends in white, leaning upon her brother? Above they had said: Who is this that looks forth as the dawn, beautiful as the moon, chosen as the sun? Here something more was found to be added, in that she ascended leaning upon the Word of God. For the more perfect recline upon Christ, just as John also reclined upon Christ's breast. So then this one either was leaning upon Christ, or was reclining upon him himself, or certainly, since we are speaking of a marriage, now as one already given away, was being led by the right hand of Christ into the bridal chamber to the bridegroom.

10. Under the Apple Tree and the Bride's Public Confession

And because now there is a bond of charity, the bridegroom caresses her, and says: Under the apple tree I raised thee up, there thy mother brought thee forth in travail, there she that bore thee brought thee forth in travail. Good is the soul who rests under a fruitful tree, and especially one of good fragrance. For if Nathanael, a good man in whom there was no guile, was seen under the fig tree, certainly good is she who was raised up by her bridegroom under the apple tree. For it is more to be raised up than to be seen, more still to be raised up by the bridegroom. For although Nathanael was seen under the tree, yet his soul was not the bride, for he came to Christ secretly, because he feared the Jews. She was not beautiful as the moon, chosen as the sun, who was in the shadow, because the bride marries by day, and confesses publicly.

Therefore this one is under the apple tree, that one under the fig; because this one spread the fragrance of her confession further: that one had the sweetness of purity and innocence, but did not have the fragrance of the spirit.

11. Brought Forth in Travail as Christ Is Formed Within

There, he says, thy mother brought thee forth in travail, there she that bore thee brought thee forth in travail; for we are born there, where we are reborn. Now those in whom the image of Christ is formed are brought forth in travail. Whence he also says: My little children, of whom I am again in travail, until Christ be formed in you. For he brings forth in travail who receives in his womb the spirit of salvation, and pours it into others.

12. The Seal of Christ on Heart, Forehead, and Arm

Whence, since Christ was now formed in her, he says: Set me as a seal upon thy heart, as a seal upon thy arm. Christ is a seal upon the forehead, a seal upon the heart. On the forehead, that we may always confess; in the heart, that we may always love; a seal upon the arm, that we may always work. Let his image, then, shine forth in our confession, let it shine in our love, let it shine in our works and deeds; that, if it can be done, his whole likeness may be expressed in us.

Let him be our head, because the head of the man is Christ; let him be our eye, that through him we may see the Father; let him be our voice, through whom we may speak to the Father; let him be our right hand, through whom we may offer our sacrifice to God the Father; let him also be our seal, which is by the mark of perfection and charity, because the Father, loving him, sealed the Son, as we read: Him hath God the Father sealed. Our charity, therefore, is Christ. Good is charity, when it offered itself to death for our sins; good is charity, which forgave sins.

13. Charity as Strong as Death

And therefore let our soul put on charity, and charity of such a kind as is strong as death; because as death is the end of sins, so too is charity; since he who loves the Lord ceases to sin. For charity thinks no evil, neither rejoices in iniquity, but endures all things. For he who seeks not the things that are his own, how shall he seek the things of others? There is also that death which is strong through the laver, by which every sin is buried, and guilt is remitted. Such was the charity which that woman of the Gospel wept, of whom the Lord said: Her sins, which are many, are forgiven, because she hath loved much. There is also that death of the holy martyrs which is strong, which abolishes former guilt; and it is therefore strong, because its charity is not unequal, but is made equal to the passion of the martyrs; so that it takes away the debt of sins.

14. The Fiery Wings of Charity

Jealousy also is as hard as hell; since he who has the zeal of God spares not even his own for Christ's sake. And so charity has death, and charity has zeal, and charity has wings of fire. Finally, Christ, loving Moses, appeared to him in fire. And Jeremiah, having in himself the gift of divine charity, said: And there was a burning fire in my bones, and I am wearied on every side, and cannot bear it. Good, then, is charity, having wings of burning fire, which flies through the breasts and hearts of the saints, and burns up whatever is material and earthly; but whatever is sincere it proves, and whatever it touches, it improves by its fire. This fire the Lord Jesus sent upon the earth, and faith shone forth, devotion was kindled, charity was illuminated, justice shone resplendent. With this fire he inflamed the hearts of his apostles, as Cleophas testifies, saying: Was not our heart burning within us, while he opened the Scriptures?

The wings of fire, then, are the flames of the divine Scripture. Indeed he opened the Scriptures, and fire went forth, and pierced the hearts of the hearers. And truly wings of fire; because the words of the Lord are chaste words, silver tried by fire. When Paul also was taken up by Christ, he saw a light shine round about him, and about those who were with him he fell down for fear, and rose up the better proved; and indeed he who had come a persecutor became an apostle. The Holy Spirit also descended, and filled the whole house in which very many were sitting, and there appeared cloven tongues as it were of fire. Good wings of charity, true wings which fluttered about the mouths of the apostles, and wings of fire which spoke purged speech. By these wings Enoch flew up, caught up to heaven. By these wings Elijah flew up in a fiery chariot, and with fiery horses was translated to the realms above.

By these wings the Lord God, by a pillar of fire, led the people of the fathers. These wings the Seraph had, when he took a coal of fire from the altar and touched the mouth of the prophet, and took away his iniquities, and purged his sins. By the fire of these wings the sons of Levi were purified, and the peoples of the nations are baptized, as John testifies, saying of the Lord Jesus: He shall baptize you in the Spirit and in fire. Rightly did David wish his reins and his heart to be burned, because he knew that the fiery wings of charity were not to be feared. Rightly the Hebrew children in the burning furnace did not feel the burnings of the fire; because the flame of charity cooled them. And that we may know more fully that perfect charity had wings, you have heard the Lord saying: How often would I have gathered thy children together, as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings!

15. The Soul's Ascent to the Highest Good

Let us then take up these wings, which, like flames, may direct us to the things above. Let each one strip his soul of its filthier wrappings, and, as it were, approve his gold cleansed of mud by fire. For thus the soul is purified, like the finest gold. Now the beauty of the soul is sincere virtue, and its truer adornment is the knowledge of things above; that it may see that good from which all things depend, but which itself depends on none. By this, then, it lives, and receives understanding. For that highest good is the fount of life, whose love and desire is kindled in us, to whom to draw near and be joined is delight; which to him who does not see is desire, and to him who sees is present possession; and therefore he despises all other things, and is soothed and delighted by this one alone. This is what supplies substance to all things; but itself, remaining in itself, gives to others, and receives nothing in itself from others.

Of which the Prophet says: I said to the Lord, Thou art my God, for thou hast no need of my goods. This alone he desired to see, as he also says elsewhere: One thing have I asked of the Lord, this will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, and behold the delight of the Lord, and visit his temple. If then anyone shall have deserved to see that pure and incorporeal highest good, what else could he have to desire? Finally, Peter on the mountain saw the glory of Christ's resurrection, and did not wish to descend, saying: Lord, it is good for us to be here. And how much more incomparable is that glory of divinity, and that light inaccessible, which if anyone has seen, what else could he desire? Not kingdoms, not riches, honors, glory, powers. For to use these is no part of blessedness, but to use this is blessed; that, despising those things, one may remain turned to this.

Seeing, then, this beautiful image, let him enter within, and leave outside the countenance of the body. For he who gazes upon bodies ought not to gaze inward; lest, like one sinking in a whirlpool, he be carried off and swallowed up, and, as it were plunged into the depths, appear nowhere. Let us therefore flee to our truest homeland. There is our fatherland, and there the Father from whom we were created, where is Jerusalem the city which is the mother of all.

16. The Flight of the Mind Toward the True Good

But what is this flight? Not, surely, of feet, which belong to the body. For these, wherever they run, run upon the earth, and pass from ground to ground. Let us not flee by ships, or chariots, or horses, which stumble and fall; but let us flee with the mind, and the eyes, or the interior feet. Let us accustom our eyes to see what is clear and bright, to gaze upon the countenance of continence and temperance, and all the virtues, in which there is nothing rough, nothing obscure and crooked; and let each look upon himself and his own conscience; let him cleanse that eye, lest it have any uncleanness. For what is seen ought not to be discordant with him who sees, since God has willed us to be conformed to the image of his Son. That good, then, is known to us, nor is it far from each one of us: For in him we live, and move, and have our being.

For we also are his offspring, as the Apostle set it forth to signify to the Gentiles. This is the good which we seek, and the sole good. For none is good but God alone. This is the eye which beholds that great and true beauty. No eye but a sound and vigorous one looks upon the sun; nor can any but a good soul see the good. Let him then become good who wishes to see the Lord, and that which is good. Let us be like this good, and let us act according to those things which are good. This is the good which is above all activity, above all mind and understanding: it itself is that which always remains, to which all things are turned, in which dwells the fullness of divinity, and through which all things are reconciled unto it.

And that we may more fully define what the good is: LIFE is the good, because it always remains, giving to all to live and to be; because the fount of all life is Christ, of whom the prophet says: In his shadow we shall live. For now our life is hidden in Christ; but when Christ our life shall appear, then we also shall appear with him in glory. Let us therefore not fear death; since it is the rest of the body, but for the soul either freedom or release. Nor let us fear him who can kill the flesh, but cannot kill the soul; for we do not fear him who can take away a garment, we do not fear him who can steal our things, but he cannot take us. We, then, are souls, if we wish to be Hebrews among those who are companions of Jacob, that is, imitators of him.

We are souls, and our members are garments; garments indeed must be kept, lest they be torn, lest they grow old; but he who uses them ought rather to keep and guard himself.