Canticles - part II - A - 4

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Third Poem (3:6-5:1)

The Spouse of the Canticle of Canticles astonishes the Angels and causes them to say:

3:6 Who is she who comes from the desert

and who ascends like a shaft of scented smoke

composed of myrrh and of incense

and of all the good scents of (the) perfumer

and who (is) supported (by) her Beloved?

3:7 Behold how sixty men, the strongest in Israel

surround the bed of Solomon,

all (of them) holding their swords and expert in war,

3:8 each of whom holds his sword upright on his thigh

because of the fears of the night.

3:9 King Solomon, himself,

has made a litter of wood of Lebanon;

he has made the pillars of silver,

the back of gold; the slope is of purple (cloth).[1]

The middle, meaning the average parts of the back,

he has decorated with charity, with Himself,

who is the love and the delights

of the Spouse and of souls.

and this, in favour of the Daughters of Jerusalem.

The word ferculum, used by Solomon, comes from ferendo, “to carry” (and signifies a) portable throne, a stately and triumphal carriage.[2]

This holy lover had plenty of daughters, who used to consider carefully all the traits of loving passion which her divine Lover and she intercommunicated; hence, she cries in this way:

3:11 O daughters of Jerusalem,

ah, by grace, I entreat you

to put all your heads to the windows

in order to consider my Beloved

in the day of his joy

and to see the crown

with which his mother crowned him

on the day of his betrothal.

These words of the Spouse are understood diversely by the Fathers. Some of them say that this “crown” was the sacred humanity of Our Lord and that his very holy “Mother” had given it to him in order to adorn the head of his divinity…. The very holy humanity was much less than the divinity of the Saviour, but nevertheless, his divine Majesty wished to serve this sacred humanity in order to enable us to know the grandeur of his Wisdom, Goodness and Mercy. And in this way she had been as a royal crown which enabled us to comprehend in such fashion, according to our capacity, the dignity of the master whom she surrounded and adorned.

The rest of the Fathers… hold that when she invited these daughters of Sion to look upon the crown of her Beloved, with which his mother (the Synagogue) had crowned him on the day of his joy and gaiety, she intended to speak of the crown of thorns which he carried on the day of his Passion. But if that is (the case), why does she say on the day of his joy, since it is on the day of his sorrow and death…?

Who can doubt that the day of the Passion of Our Lord and Master is not a day of joy and delights for the Angels and for men, since it is on this (day) that he showed the great love which he bore for us, as he himself attests; “No one has greater Love than He who expends his soul, meaning his life, for those whom he loves” (Jn. 15:13).[3]

4:1 How beautiful you are, my beloved,

how beautiful you are!

Your eyes are of doves,

without what is hidden within.

Your hairs are like the herd of goats

who come from Mount Galaad.

4:2 Your teeth are like (a) flock of ewes,

freshly shorn, who return from the washing;

each has his two twins and not one is barren.

4:3 Your lips are like a strip of purplish colour

and your speech is completely sweet.

Your cheeks are like a slice of pomegranate

without what is hidden within.

4:4 Your neck is like the Tower of David

constructed with ramparts;

a thousand bucklers are hanging on it

4:5 and all sorts of weapons for strong men.

Your two breasts are like two fawns

which one grazes among the lilies.[4]

In the Canticle of Canticles, the sacred Spouse possesses hands which distil myrrh, a liqueur (which preserves) from corruption. Her lips are bands of a ribbon, the mark of the modesty in her words. Her eyes are (those) of (a) dove, by reason of their distinctness. Her ears have earrings of gold, tokens of purity. Her nose is among the cedars of Lebanon, (which is) incorruptible wood.[5]

Finally, the Bridegroom, whom since the Ascension has gone to the mountain of myrrh and the hill of incense, to Heaven at the right hand of the Father, as he had predicted:

4:6 Before the day wanes

and the shades (of night) subside,

I will go to the mountain of myrrh

and the hill of incense,

will praise the soul saying:

4:7 You are beautiful, o my beloved,

and there is not one small spot on you.

And he will invite her to pass from the militant Jerusalem to the triumphant, saying:

4:8 Come from Lebanon, my spouse.

Come from Lebanon, come.

You will be crowned from the top of Mt. Amana

from the top of Sanir and of Hermon

from the dens of the lions,

from the mountains of the leopards.

4:9 You have wounded my heart, my sister, my spouse.

You have wounded my heart with one of your hairs,

and one of the hairs of your neck.[6]

(So as to devote herself) more ardently to the heavenly love, the sacred Spouse used to close one of her eyes so as to unite her sight more strongly in the other one and, by this means, to aspire more precisely to the middle of the heart of her Beloved, which she wishes to wound with love. For this (reason), she holds her wig (her hair) so pleated and gathered together in its tress that she seems to have only one single hair, which she presses close together like a chain to bind and ravish the heart of her Bridegroom, whom she renders enslaved to her dilection.[7]

The Bridegroom says that his Beloved has ravished his heart by one of her eyes and by one of her hairs which hangs down upon her neck. These words are a quiver full of most agreeable and most sweet interpretations; behold here, one entirely pleasing:

When a husband or a wife has some affairs in their household which compel them to separate themselves, if it happens by chance that they meet each other, they may look upon each other in passing, but it is only with one eye, because one cannot do it well with both.

Thus, this Bridegroom wishes to say: Though my Beloved be strongly occupied, (even) so, she does not fail to look upon me with one eye, protesting to me by this glance that she is all mine. She has ravished my heart by one of her hairs which falls on her neck, meaning by a thought which descends from near her heart.[8]

4:10 How beautiful are your breasts,

my sister, my spouse!

Your breasts are more beautiful than wine.

The scent of your perfumes

is above all fragrant composition.[9]

O eternal God, when by your Sweet Presence you cast the scented perfumes into our hearts, perfumes delighting (us) more than delicious wine and more than honey, then all the powers of our souls enter into an agreeable repose, with a rest so perfect that there is no longer any sentiment (other) than that of the will, which, like a spiritual sense of smell, abides sweetly engaged in sensing, without itself perceiving, the incomparable good of having its God Present.[10]

4:11 Your lips are a dripping honeycomb;

that which is under your tongue is milk and honey.

The scent of your dress

is like the scent of incense.[11]

The Holy Spirit teaches that the lips of the divine Spouse, meaning the Church, resemble scarlet and the honeycomb which distils its honey, so that one may know that all the doctrine which she announces consists of sacred dilection, more brilliant in vermilion than scarlet on account of the blood of the Bridegroom who inflames it (and) sweeter than honey on account of the gentleness of the Beloved who fills her up with delight.[12]

Remember that the Spouse of Our Lord is called (a) Sulamite, meaning pleasing and that under her tongue is milk and honey, (and) on her lips (is) the dripping honeycomb, as it is said in the Canticle.[13]

4:12 A closed garden is my sister, my spouse;

she is a garden closed and enclosed;

she is a sealed fountain.

And do you not know that it is she (the Holy Virgin) who is this closed and enclosed garden of the Canticle, which is all ornamented and adorned? … repetition (of expression) which is not without mystery.[14]

Will they bring about, therefore, that which is written in the Canticle of the Spouse who is an enclosed garden, a sealed fountain or spring, a well of living water, who is all beautiful and without any stain, or as the Apostle says, glorious, without wrinkle, holy and immaculate?[15]

4:13 That which you send and place outside

is like a paradise…

of pomegranates, of fruits of apple trees,

of balm with nard, and of saffron, sugar cane,

and cinnamon, and all sorts of fruits

4:14 of the trees of Lebanon, myrrh and aloes,

with all sorts of the most excellent perfumes.

In sum, the soul is a fountain of good works which spring up to the skies with impetuosity, similar to those of the water come from Lebanon;

4:15 the fountain of the gardens,

the well of living waters,

which flow impetuously from Lebanon.

But in all this, two things are required on the part of God: that he expels the north wind of temptations and that he sends the south breeze of his prepossessing grace, saying:

4:16 Flee, Aquilon (cold blast of north wind)

and come, O Midi (south wind)

blow in my garden,

and the scents of it will be spread abroad.

Take yourself away from her, O north wind, and come, O south breeze, and blow in my garden, and the perfumes will come forth there abundantly. O my very dear daughter, how I wish (for you) this gracious wind which comes from the south wind of divine Love, this Holy Spirit which gives us the grace to aspire to him and to breathe for him.[16]

Let my Beloved come into his garden

and let him eat of the fruit of his apple trees.

Now the divine Bridegroom comes into his garden when he comes into the devout soul, for since it pleases him to be with the children of men, where can he better live than in the region of the spirit which he has made in his image and likeness? In this garden he, himself, plants the loving complacence which we have in his Goodness and on which we graze, as in the same way his Goodness is pleased and grazes on our complacence. And so, our complacence increases anew, by which God is pleased to see us pleased in Him, so that these reciprocal pleasures from love by an incomparable complacence by which our soul, made the garden of its bridegroom and having from his Goodness the apple trees of delights, renders him fruit, since he is pleased by the complacence which it has in him.[17]

The divine Bridegroom, as the Shepherd who he is, prepared a sumptuous feast n the rural fashion, which he describes in (a) way that mystically presented all the mysteries of human Redemption:

5:1 I have come into my garden, he says;

I have gathered in my myrrh with all my perfumes;

I have mixed my wine with milk;

I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey;

Eat my friends, and drink,

and intoxicate yourselves, my very dear (ones)

Theotimus, ah, when in see it, I beg you, that Our Lord came into his garden, if not when he came into the most pure, most humble, and most sweet womb of his Mother, full of all the flowering plants of holy virtues?

And what in Our Lord is this gathering in of his myrrh with his perfumes, if not to accumulate sufferings upon sufferings until death, and death on the Cross, and joining by it (his death) merits to merits, treasures to treasures, in order to enrich his spiritual children?

And how did he eat his honeycomb with the honey, if not when he lived a New Life, reuniting his soul, sweeter than honey, to his body, pierced and wounded by more holes than a honeycomb?

And when, rising to heaven, he took possession of all the circumstances and appendages of his divine Glory, what else was it, if not to mix the glad wine of his Essential Glory with the delectable milk of the perfect Felicity of his body, in such a way even more excellent than he had ever made until then?

And in all his divine mysteries, which include all the others, what is there for all the dear friends to eat and drink well, and with what do they intoxicate themselves? Some eat and drink, but they eat more than they drink and do not intoxicate themselves; the others eat and drink, but they drink more than they eat, and these are those who intoxicate themselves. Now to eat is to meditate … (and) to drink is to contemplate, … but to intoxicate oneself is to contemplate so frequently and so ardently that one be completely outside of oneself in order to be completely for God.

(A) holy and sacred ecstasy, in contrast to the corporal, alienates us not from the spiritual sense, but from the corporal sense, which neither daze nor stupefy us but make us angels and, in a manner of speech, divinize us. (It) puts us outside ourselves not in order to disparage us and rank us with the beasts, as the earthly ecstasy does, but in order to make us rise above ourselves and to rank us with the Angels, so that we might live more in God than in ourselves, being attentive to and occupied by love to see his Beauty and to unite ourselves to his Goodness.[18]

Therefore, let us not believe, my dear souls, that our spirit is rendered stupid and asleep in the abundance of the enjoyment of eternal happiness; on the contrary, it will be greatly awakened and agile in its different actions. And if it is written that Our Lord will intoxicate his beloved (ones), saying, “Drink, my friends, and intoxicate yourselves, my very dear ones,” this intoxication will not render the soul less capable of seeing, considering, intending and making its different movements, in the same way as we have declared it, according as the love of its Beloved will suggest to it. Moreover, this will excite it always further to redouble its movements and loving flights, as beign always more inflamed by the ardours.[19]

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[1] Oeuvres de St. Francois de Sales. Annecy: Religieuses de la Visitation, 1893-1993), Tome 4, p. 294. Treatise on the Love of God, Book 5, Chapter 11.

[2] Oeuvres, Tome 9, p. 471.

[3] Oeuvres, Tome 26, p. 25. The Mystical Exposition of the Canticle of Canticles, trans. Henry Benedict, Canon Mackey, D.D., O.S.B. (publication information unknown), Discourse III, pp. 15-16; Oeuvres, Tome 4, p. 304. Treatise on the Love of God, Book 6, Chapter 1.

[4] Oeuvres, Tome 8, p. 143.

[5] Oeuvres, Tome 9, p. 213.

[6] Oeuvres, Tome 26, p. 26. The Mystical Exposition of the Canticle of Canticles, Discourse III, pp. 17-19.

[7] Oeuvres, Tome 3, p. 182. Introduction to the Devout Life, Part 3, Chapter 13.

[8] Oeuvres, Tome 26, p. 27. The Mystical Exposition of the Canticle of Canticles, Discourse III, pp. 19-20.

[9] Oeuvres, Tome 5, p. 324. Treatise on the Love of God, Book 12, Chapter 3.

[10] oeuvres, Tome 9, p. 71. Sermons, 27-28.

[11] Oeuvres de St. Francois de Sales. Annecy: Religieuses de la Visitation, 1893-1993), Tome 9, p. 71. Sermons, 27-28.

[12] Oeuvres, Tome 26, p. 27. The Mystical Exposition of the Canticle of Canticles, trans. Henry Benedict, Canon Mackey, D.D., O.S.B. (publication information unknown), Discourse III, p. 20.

[13] Oeuvres, Tome 4, p. 335. Treatise on the Love of God, Book 6, Chapter 9.

[14] Oeuvres, Tome 26, p. 27. The Mystical Exposition of the Canticle of Canticles, Discourse III, p. 20.

[15] Oeuvres, Tome 4, p. 3. Treatise on the Love of God, Preface.

[16] Oeuvres, Tome 16, p. 105.

[17] Oeuvres, Tome 10, p. 60.

[18] Oeuvres, Tome 1, p. 55.

[19] Oeuvres, Tome 26, p. 28. The Mystical Exposition of the Canticle of Canticles, Discourse III, p. 21.

St. Francis de Sales and the Canticle of Canticles

ST. FRANCIS DE SALES AND THE CANTICLE OF CANTICLES

TABLE OF CONTENTS :: Preface :: Introduction :: Part I :: Part II :: Part III

A Spirituality for Everyone

St. Francis de Sales presents a spirituality that can be practised by everyone in all walks of life