Sermons on the Song of Songs

How many good works are done by men who yet feel no pleasure in the good they perform! This is due to the fact that such persons are not influenced in their actions by any relish for virtue, but only by motives of reason, by human respect, or by some kind of compulsion. On the other hand, many men find no satisfaction in the evils which they do, and are led to perform them either by the fear of other evil or by the desire of some good rather than by a love of evil for its own sake. But those who “have passed into the affection of the heart,” as the Psalmist says, are either truly wise, and so take a delight in the relish of good, or they are truly malicious, and consequently find pleasure in evil, even when it entices them with no hope of anything beyond itself. For what is malice but a relish for evil? Happy the soul which is entirely occupied by the love of good and the hatred of evil! This is what is meant by being reformed unto wisdom, this is to enjoy in oneself the happy experience of wisdom’s triumph. For by what is wisdom more evidently shown to have conquered malice than by the fact that, when the love of evil has been driven forth, the soul becomes conscious of a certain most intimate relish for good, which replenishes her whole interior with spiritual delight? Therefore, it is the part of virtue to suffer tribulations with fortitude; but it belongs to wisdom to rejoice in tribulations. It is the office of virtue to strengthen the heart and to “wait in patience for the Lord”; but it is for wisdom to “taste and see that the Lord is sweet.” And that both these moral endowments may be more clearly exhibited in their proper and formal effects, I say that modesty of mind reveals the wise man, constancy of mind the virtuous man. Wisdom is rightly placed after virtue, because virtue is the strong and firm foundation, so to speak, whereupon “wisdom hath built herself a house.” But it is necessary for both virtue and wisdom to be preceded by the knowledge of good, since the light of wisdom can have no fellowship with the darkness of ignorance. Goodness of will must likewise have preceded, because “wisdom will not enter into a malicious soul.”

Now since the soul has given proof of her restoration to life by the change in her will, of her recovered health by her enlightenment, of her stability by her virtue, and finally of her maturity by her wisdom, it remains that we discover for her that beauty without which she cannot find favour in the eyes of Him Who is “beautiful above the sons of men.” She has herself heard Him say in the psalm, “The King shall greatly desire thy beauty.” How precious and how great are the gifts of the soul which I have enumerated, gifts bestowed upon her by the Word, namely, goodness of will, knowledge, virtue, and wisdom! Nevertheless the Word is nowhere said to desire any of these. The Scripture only says, “The King shall greatly desire thy beauty.” In another place the Psalmist sings, “The Lord hath reigned, He is clothed with beauty.” And why should He not desire a similar robe of beauty for her who is at once His image and His Spouse? For the more closely she resembles Him, the more tenderly shall He cherish her. Now in what exactly does the beauty of the soul consist? Shall we say that it consists in what is called holiness of life? For the present, at any rate, let us adopt this view, until something better occurs to us. To discover whether or not a soul possesses holiness we have to examine her external conduct, because although external conduct does not constitute holiness, it is the medium by which holiness is manifested. In the heart holiness has its origin and its home, for its “glory is the testimony of conscience.” Nothing can be clearer than this light, nothing more glorious than this testimony, when truth shines in the soul and the soul sees herself in truth. But how does she appear to herself? She appears chaste and modest, fearful and circumspect, carefully avoiding everything which could tarnish the glory of the testimony of her conscience, conscious to herself of nothing which could put her to shame in the presence of truth, of nothing which could compel her to turn away her eyes, dazzled and confounded, from the light of the glory of God. This, my brethren, this indeed is that beauty of the soul which beyond all her other gifts and graces delights the eyes of the Word, and to which I would give the name and definition of holiness of life.

But when the brightness of this beauty has filled superabundantly the interior places of the heart and conscience, it must begin to reveal itself externally also, like a lamp hidden under a bushel, or rather as a “light shining in darkness,” which cannot remain concealed. Accordingly, shining forth from its dwelling within, and sending out its luminous rays, so to speak, it acts upon the body, making it the image of the mind, diffuses its influence over all the members and faculties thereof, and communicates a new grace to a man’s every action, word, look and movement, even to his laughter (if he should ever indulge in this), all of which appear now to be stamped with dignity and adorned with innocence. And when these and all other such motions, activities, and exercises of the various bodily powers and members are seen to be grave, simple, and modest, neither insolent nor over-free, equally removed from sloth and giddiness, conformed to the rules of decorum, and conducive to piety, then, my brethren, the beauty of the soul is externally manifested, provided however that “there is no guile in her spirit.” For it is possible that all such manifestations are merely simulated, and do not proceed out of the abundance of the heart. But in order that this spiritual loveliness may be exhibited in greater splendour, I shall here, if it is pleasing to you, define what is meant by that holiness which I have pronounced to be the formal constituent of the soul’s beauty. Such holiness, then, is the nobility of a soul solicitous to preserve fair fame with purity of conscience, or, in the words of the Apostle, “to provide good things not only in the sight of God but also in the sight of all men.” Blessed is the soul which has clothed herself with this beauty of sanctity, with this whiteness of heavenly innocence, whereby she can lay claim to a conformity, not with the world, but with the Word, of Whom it is written that He is “the Splendour of Eternal Life,” “the Brightness of God’s Glory and the Figure of His Substance.”