Sermons on the Song of Songs

It remained for Him, therefore, to be glorified once again, according to the promise of the Father. That was to be plenitude of glory, to which nothing further could be added. But where was He to receive this final benediction? Not certainly “in the streets and the broad ways,” as the Spouse seems to have expected, unless indeed there is question of those streets whereof the Prophet said “Thy streets, O Jerusalem, shall be paved with pure gold and in all thy streets alleluia shall be sung.” For in these streets, it is true, the Son has received from His Father a glory to which nothing comparable can be found, even amongst the citizens of heaven. For “to which of the angels said He (the Father) at any time: Sit on my Right Hand until I make thy enemies thy footstool?” And not only amongst the choir of angels, but amongst the other and superior orders of blessed spirits also, has there been found none worthy to participate in this superexcellent glory. Not one of all those celestial creatures has ever been privileged to hear addressed to himself the words of incommunicable glory, “Sit on My Right Hand,” not one has been given to experience in himself the efficacy of these words. All, no doubt, whether thrones, or dominations, or principalities, or powers, desire to gaze upon the glory of the Only-Begotten; but to raise themselves to an equality of glory they do not presume. Therefore to my Lord alone has the Lord given the invitation and the right to sit on the Right Hand of His glory as being co-equal with Himself in glory, consubstantial in Essence, identical in Nature by Sonship, one in Majesty, co-eternal in duration. There, there shall He be found by such as seek Him; and they shall see His glory, not a glory like the glory of creatures, but truly “the glory as it were of the Only Begotten of the Father.”

What then art thou doing, O Spouse of Christ? Dost thou think that thou canst follow Him thither? Hast thou the boldness and hast thou the power to intrude thyself into a sanctuary so secret, into a mystery so sacred, that thou mayst contemplate the Son in the Father and the Father in the Son? Surely no. Where He is thou canst not come now, but thou shalt come hereafter. Meanwhile, however, desist not from following and seeking Him. Do not allow that inaccessible brightness, that unapproachable sublimity, to turn thee from thy quest or to deprive thee of the hope of finding. “If thou canst believe,” says the Saviour “all things are possible to him that believeth.” And the Apostle tells thee, “The Word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth and in thy heart.” Only believe and thou hast already found. For to believe is to have found. The faithful know that Christ dwelleth by faith in their hearts. What can be nearer? Seek Him therefore with security, seek Him with devotion. “The Lord is good to them that hope in Him, to the soul that seeketh Him.” Seek Him by thy desires, follow Him by Thy actions, find Him by thy faith. What is there that faith cannot find? It attains to the inaccessible, it discovers the unknowable, it comprehends the immeasurable, it reaches forward to what is ultimate, it even includes eternity itself within the ample space of its own mystical bosom. I make bold to say it: the Blessed and Everlasting Trinity, though beyond my understanding, is accessible to my faith; and I hold by faith what escapes my intelligence.

But some one may say to me, “How shall the Spouse believe without a preacher, since faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of preaching?” God will provide for this. And behold they are already at hand from whom the newly betrothed Spouse, soon to become the Bride of the heavenly Bridegroom, shall receive information and instruction concerning all things necessary, the knowledge of the faith, and the form and pattern of piety and religion. For listen to what she adds, “The watchmen who kept the city found me.” Who, my brethren, are these watchmen? They are doubtless the same whom the Saviour in the Gospel pronounces blessed if, when He comes, He shall find them watching. And what good watchmen they are who keep guard over us whilst we slumber, as being obliged to render an account of our soul’s welfare! What good keepers, who with vigilant minds spend their nights in prayer, who prudently find out the enemy’s ambuscades, forestall the schemes of the malignant, discover their wiles, expose their snares, break their nets, and foil their cunning machinations! “These are lovers of their brethren and of the people (of Christ); these are they that pray much for the people and for all the holy city.” These are they who, all solicitous for the sheep of the Lord committed to their charge, “give their hearts to resort early to the Lord That made them, and pray in the sight of the Most High.” They continue praying as they watch, for they are conscious of their own insufficiency to guard the city, and that “unless the Lord keep the city, he watcheth in vain that keepeth it.”

Furthermore, since the Lord Himself has given the command, “Watch ye and pray that you enter not into temptation,” it clearly follows that without this twofold observance on the part of the faithful and this twofold exercise of zeal on the part of their keepers, there can be no security for the city, no security for the Spouse, no security for the flock. Do you wish me to explain the difference between these three, the city, the Spouse, and the flock? In reality they are one and the same. That which is called a city, on account of the multitude of souls which it embraces, is called a Spouse because of the tender love of which it is the object, and a flock by reason of the gentleness which characterises its members. Would you like to have proof that the Spouse and the city signify the same? Then listen to the Evangelist, “And I, John, saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.” The identity of the Spouse and the flock shall also appear manifest to you if you recollect the first vicarious shepherd—I mean St. Peter—and how earnestly he was charged to watch over lovingly and to feed the flock at the time when the sheep were first entrusted to his care. Now Christ in His wisdom would never have been at such pains in this matter had He not realised from the testimony of His own Heart and conscience that He was truly a Bridegroom no less than a Shepherd. Attend to this, ye friends of the Bridegroom, if yet you be in truth His friends. But it is not enough for the shepherds or keepers of His flock to be only the friends of the Bridegroom: they who are honoured with the privilege of such intimate familiarity with the Bridegroom ought to be inflamed with the most ardent love for Him. Not without special significance did the Lord, when appointing Peter chief pastor of the sheep, say to him three times, “Peter lovest thou Me?” It seems to me that by the repeated question Jesus wished to signify the same as if He had said, “Unless thy conscience bears thee witness that thou lovest Me and that thou lovest Me strongly and perfectly, that is to say, more than thy possessions, more than thy friends, more even than thyself, so as by this threefold preference to satisfy My threefold interrogation—unless such be the case, thou oughtest not by any means to undertake this responsibility or to have anything to do with those sheep of Mine for whose salvation My Blood has been shed.” Awful words these, my brethren, and well calculated to strike terror into the hearts of even the most insensible of tyrants.