Canticles - part II - A - 6

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fifth Poem (6:4 – 8:5)

6:4 O my beloved, you are beautiful

sweet, and of good grace,

like Jerusalem, strong as an army well arrayed.

Already, Lord, you have shown me by a thousand signs that my glances have wounded you, meaning that my intentions are not displeasing you.

6:5 turn your eyes away from upon me,

for you have wounded me, …

for they have made me go out from myself…[1]

Do you think that it is in order to prohibit her from drawing her arrows that he speaks thus? O no, without doubt, it is rather in order to wound her reciprocally, for you will confess to me that it was good to wound her lovingly, but by a wound nevertheless sorrowful, that of saying to her that she turn away her eyes from upon Him.[2]

Your hairs are like a herd of kids

who graze on the mount of Galaad.

6:6 Your teeth are like (a) flock of sheep

which emerge from the wash house,

each having two small (ones),

and not one is barren.

6:7 Your cheeks are like a sliced pomegranate

without what is hidden therein.

But, O God, says the soul, already you have praised me for almost all these parts. I will desire now to progress and surpass in devotion many of (the) other devout souls or (those) who think to be (so), that you may be able to say to me:

6:8 There are 60 queens and 80 concubines,

and some young girls without number,

but my dove is all alone.

How do I know? Could I desire so much? I would like that you be able to call me “my perfection.” I would like to have in my nature, my mother, some rarity (so) that one may say (of me):

6:9 She is unique of her mother;

she is chosen of her who has engendered her,

I would like that one could further say:

Behold that the daughters have seen,

and have declared (her) to be blessed;

the queens and the concubines

have praised her innocence

having emerged from the night of sin.[3]

Seeing that the great king Solomon, delighting further in the divine Spirit, composed the sacred Canticle of Canticles, he had, according to the permission of that time, a great variety of women and girls dedicated to his love in diverse conditions and under different qualities.

There was “one” who was (a) uniquely unique friend, completely perfect (and) completely rare, like a singular dove, with which the others only came in comparison. This (one) he called by his name “Sulamite.”

There were sixty (others) who, after her, held the first rank of honour and esteem, and who were named “queens.” Besides them, there were, further, eighty women who were not really queens but who, nevertheless, had (a) part in the royal bed, in (their) quality of honourable and legitimate friends. And finally, there were some young girls without number, reserved in waiting, in the quise of (a) nursery (of trees), in order to be put in the place of the preceding (ones) in (the) measure that they would default.

Now in the idea of what used to happen in the palace, he described the divine perfections of the souls who in the future would adore, love and serve the great, peaceful King, Jesus Christ, Our Lord.[4]

Of these souls so perfect, there (are) so few that each of them is called “unique of her mother,” who is divine Providence. She is (the) “unique dove” who loves only its mate. She is named “perfect” because by love she is rendered one same thing with the sovereign perfection, for which she can say with a most humble truth:

I am only for my Beloved,

and he has turned completely towards me.

Now, here is only the most holy Virgin, Our Lady, who has perfectly attained this degree of excellence in the love of her dear Beloved. For she is a dove so uniquely unique in dilection that all the others being placed after her in paragon (in comparison) merit the name of crow rather than of dove.

But leaving this peerless Queen in her incomparable eminence, one has certainly seen some souls who are found in the state of Pure Love which in comparison to others could hold (the) rank of queens, of unique doves, and of perfect friends of the Spouse.[5]

6:10 Who is this who proceeds like the dawn in its rising,

beautiful as the moon, chosen as the sun,

chosen as a battalion of arrayed soldiers?[6]

But, in addition to that, the soul adds:

Where have you been, my Lord, when it seemed that you had left me, when labour and fatigue did not permit that I might have some taste? I have been, he responds, in you, yourself, who are in my garden, and (I) have been there with more profit for you than I might have been if, in the first stroke, I had given you some tastes, (thereby) giving you occasion of meriting, by which I have drawn from my garden a greater fruit of merit.[7]

6:11 I have descended into the garden of the walnuts

in order to see the apple trees of the valley

and to see if the vine flowered

and if the pomegranates have germinated.

Therefore, may you be blessed, O Lord, responds the soul, that by such fashion, making me believe that you had been absent, you have given me occasion of meriting, and you have enabled me to cover in a short time more distance than the carriages of the princes. And for this (reason),

6:12 since I have not known … that you had been with me

I can say that my soul is troubled

on account of the chariots of Aminadab.[8]

O God, what distress a soul who loves God has, not only of knowing whether He is in it or not, but whether the Divine Love for which it struggles is completely extinct or not!

But it is the fine flower of the perfection of heavenly love which makes the lover suffer and battle for love without knowing if he has the love for which and by which he struggles[9].

Everytime this Goodness ceases to send forth its virtue into our hearts, as it happens when sin, dividing us from God, eclipses that great Sun of Justice, alas, then we live without charity and without love.

7:1 Ah, says the divine Bridegroom of our souls,

return, return Sulamite, return, return,

so that we may look upon you.

Certainly he desires that we look at him, and so that we may look at him, he desires to look upon us, knowing that we could not know to look at him unless He first looks upon us, nor to love him unless He first loves us.[10]

What will you see in the Sulamite,

if not the choirs of the armies?

But this war is peaceful; peace triumphs. It is in the peace of the soul that one carries away victory over the demon and in the trouble of the soul (that) the demon triumphs.

The Sulamite, the peaceful (one), possesses some armies, and these armies, arrayed in choirs composed of a multitude of chanters, do battle.[11]

7:2 How beautiful are your steps in their footwear,

O daughters of (the) prince.[12]

The Bridegroom in the Canticle of Canticles, after having considered his Spouse in detail, cast his eyes upon her footwear, that which contented him so strongly that he confessed of being completely in love: “Oh,” he says, “your footwear is agreeable to me; how you have decorum in your march!”[13]

The joints of your thighs are like jewels

put in work by the hand of a good workman.

7:3 Your navel is like a round bowl

which never has need of beverage.

Your stomach is like a heap of wheat

encircled by lilies.[14]

Listen to the Bridegroom in the Canticle of Canticles when he says to her “Your stomach, O my Beloved, is like a heap of grains of wheat which is completely surrounded by lilies of the modesty of virginity.”

What can this divine Lover mean, if not that Our Lady has carried all Christians in her bosom?

And so well (that) she produces only this “grain” of which it is written “if it is cast to the earth, it will live all alone” (Jn. 12:24) and if it is cast there and covered, it will germinate and will produce several (others). To whom, I beg you, must one attribute the production of those other grains, if not to Her who has produced the first, Our Lord being the Son, by nature, of Our Lady?

Although in effect she had carried only Him in her bosom, she has nevertheless carried all Christians in the Person of her divine Son, for this “blessed grain” has produced us all by his Death.[15]

7:4 Your two breasts are like two fawns,

twins of a goat.

7:5 Your neck is like a tower of ivory.

Your eyes are like the ponds of Hesebon

which are at the door

of the daughter of the multitude.[16]

“Your eyes are like ponds in Hesebon.” The eyes are doors or windows, and by them we see the interior of the house. “Who (ever) sounds at the door” means in Christ. “The door of the daughter of the people” means (the door) of the Church. “Hesebon” (means the) belt of sorrow when God girds himself by sorrow.

Your nose is like the tower or Lebanon

which looks toward Damascus.

7:6 Your head is like Mount Carmel,

and your braids (are) like royal dignity,

like scarlet.

It is no wonder that her sacred heart was completely filled with love and desire for the salvation of men, since she carried in her chaste womb Love, itself, the Saviour and Redeemer of the world. It seems to me that it is to her that one must apply those words of the Canticle of Canticles: Your head resembles Mount Carmel.

See, when the divine Bridegroom describes the beauty of his Spouse in detail, he begins with her head. But what can this divine Lover intend when he says that the head of his Beloved resembles Mount Carmel? Mount Carmel is completely variegated by sweet-smelling flowers, and the trees which are found on it carry only perfumes. What do these flowers and perfumes signify, if not charity, which is a most beautiful and sweet-smelling virtue, which is never alone in a soul?

And although one appropriates these words of the Canticle to the Church, which is the true Spouse of Our Lord, in which like a Mount Carmel, all sorts of flowers of virtues abound and which is sweet-smelling in all holiness and perfection, so it is that one can intend this for the Sacred Virgin, who is the faithful Spouse of the Holy Spirit.

Therefore, having this charity in so great (a) perfection, she resembles Mount Carmel for the frequent acts (of this charity) which she used to produce, as much towards God as towards the neighbour. And this charity, like a tree of perfumes, used to cast a very agreeable scent and sweetness.

But the Rabbis and some others seem further to understand better that the divine Bridegroom, speaking of the head of his Beloved, wishes to signify charity, for they translate: “Your head resembles scarlet,” and elsewhere, “the cheeks of the Spouse are comparable to the grains of the pomegranate which are all red.” And what is this, if not the charity of the Holy Virgin simply represented, since not only did she have charity, but she had received it in (such) complete plenitude that she was charity itself? She had conceived Him who, being all love, had rendered her love itself.[17]

7:7 How beautiful you are; how you are of good grace

most dear in delights.

7:8 Your stature, your bearing, is like a palm (tree),

and your breasts are full, like clusters of grapes.

7:9 I will ascend into the palm tree,

and I will take your fruits,

and your breasts will be like clusters of grapes.

The scent of your mouth is like that of apples.[18]

Very remarkable, this passage of the Canticle, … for the just (one) extends his branches on the superior part, like the palm tree (Ps. 91). It is always green; its flowers appear only if its shell and its covering are split by tribulations.

The hairs of the Spouse are like the “tendrils” of palm trees which envelop the flowers; when the “tendrils” open themselves, the flowers appear white. Thus, when the hairs of the Spouse are separated, the remarkable beauty of her face appears, such a bouquet of flowers, and with such a whiteness that (her) head of hair seems jet black.

He who has received too much of the fruit of the palm tree (milk) and of the spiritual victory and who has drunk the wine, meaning an immoderate joy, his head is made dull by vain glory, and he is intoxicated of arrogance.

There are many considerations to make on the ascent of the palm tree.

One of the devout shepherds who followed the sacred Sulamite … assures (us) that holy doctrine is like a precious wine, worthy not only of being drunk by the pastors and doctors (of the Church), but of being carefully savoured and, by manner of saying, chewed and ruminated. She says:

7:10 Your throat, …

in which the holy words are formed,

is a very good wine for my Beloved to drink

and for his lips and teeth to ruminate.

7:11 I am all to my Beloved, …

and his return is before me.

For it is the same as if she said:

I am united to my dear Friend,

and reciprocally he returns to me,

in order (that) by uniting himself more and more to me,

he may likewise render himself completely mine.[19]

Thus, desire of the secret had incited her to make this supplication to her Bridegroom:

7:12 Come, my dear Beloved,[20]

let us leave the fields;

let us sojourn to the villages.

7:13 Let us arise in the morning

in order to go to the vines;

let us see if the vineyard is blooming,

if the flowers will carry the fruit,

if the pomegranates are blooming.

There I will give you my breasts.

O my daughter, hold well this divine Infant in your arms, and give him your breasts. He feeds on the milk of humility.[21]

The mandrakes have given their scent.

O my Beloved, I have closed for you

within our doors

all sorts of fruits, old and new,

8:1 alone and outside:

who will give you to me, my brother,

sucking the breast of my mother,

that I may find you outside, all alone?

(A) consideration which piously distracts men makes them dance before the Ark (2 Kgs. 6:14). Thus (it) happens that until the soul has arrived at the affection of contempt of itself, it always has some shame. That is why it desires solitude:

so that I may kiss him, she says,

without (any) persons seeing us.[22]

(This) consideration is a “deposit” of the enjoyment of Heaven, by which it is admitted to the soul that it be there already, saying:

o God, when we will be in the true house and in the true bedroom of human nature, which is Heaven, when

8:2 I will lead you into the house of my mother

and into the bedroom of her who has engendered me, there I will see all that appertains to my happiness “as in a mirror”;

there you will teach me,

and when you will have drawn from me, for my felicity, the wine of the vine and “the must (i.e., wine not fermented) of the pomegranates,” the essential and accidental glory,

and I will give you a beverage of composed wine

and the must of my pomegranates,

behold, the tastes which will arrive; behold the ecstasies, behold the sleeps of the powers, by (such) fashion that the Spouse asks for pillows in order to sleep:

8:3 Let him put his left hand under my head

and let him embrace me with his right hand.

The Bridegroom, on his part, endeavours to make (sure) that she be not at all roused:

8:4 I adjure you, daughters of Jerusalem,

that you neither rouse nor arouse my Beloved

until she wishes it.[23]

It seems that the Assumption of Our Lady was, in (a) certain fashion, more glorious and more triumphant than the Ascension of Our Lord, seeing that in the Ascension there were only Angels who came to Him from above, but in the Assumption of his most holy Mother, the King of Angels came there Himself. That is why the angelic troops, as completely astonished, exclaimed:

8:5 Who is this who ascends from the desert

supported by her Beloved?

Then we can understand that Our Lady ascended so well to Heaven, as completely pure, in spite of her purity, (that) she was nevertheless supported by the merits of her Son, in virtue of which she entered into glory.[24]

O most sacred and most blessed Lady

who is on high in the Paradise of Felicity,

alas, have pity on us

who are in the desert of misery;

you are in abundance of delights,

and we are in the abyss of desolations;

obtain for us the strength

to bear well all afflictions,

that we may always be supported

by your Beloved,

sole support for our hopes,

sole recompense for our labours,

sole medicine for our sickness.[25]

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[1] Oeuvres de St. Francois de Sales. Annecy: Religieuses de la Visitation, 1893-1993), Tome 26, p. 32. The Mystical Exposition of the Canticle of Canticles, trans. Henry Benedict, Canon Mackey, D.D., O.S.B. (publication information unknown), Discourse IV, p. 29.

[2] oeuvres, Tome 9, p. 197.

[3] oeuvres, Tome 26, p. 33. The Mystical Exposition of the Canticle of Canticles, Discourse IV, p. 29-30.

[4] oeuvres, Tome 5, p. 176. Treatise on the Love of God, Book 10, Chapter 4.

[5] oeuvres, Tome 5, p. 183. Treatise on the Love of God, Book 10, Chapter 5.

[6] oeuvres, Tome 9, p. 345.

[7] oeuvres, Tome 3, p. 299. Introduction to the Devout Life, Part IV, Chapter 4.

[8] oeuvres, Tome 26, p. 33. The Mystical Exposition of the Canticle of Canticles, Discourse IV, p. 31.

[9] oeuvres, Tome 3, p. 299. Introduction to the Devout Life, Part IV, Chapter 4.

[10] Oeuvres de St. Francois de Sales. Annecy: Religieuses de la Visitation, 1893-1993), Tome 5, p. 363. Treatise on the Love of God, Book 2.

[11] oeuvres, Tome 8, p. 205.

[12] oeuvres, Tome 26, p. 34. The Mystical Exposition of the Canticle of Canticles, trans. Henry Benedict, Canon Mackey, D.D., O.S.B. (publication information unknown), Discourse V, p. 32.

[13] oeuvres, Tome 9 p. 63

[14] oeuvres, Tome 26, p. 34. The Mystical Exposition of the Canticle of Canticles, Discourse V, p. 32.

[15] oeuvres, Tome 9, p. 93.

[16] oeuvres, Tome 26, p. 34. The Mystical Exposition of the Canticle of Canticles, Discourse V, pp. 32-33.

[17] oeuvres, Tome 9, p. 161.

[18] oeuvres, Tome 26, p. 35. The Mystical Exposition of the Canticle of Canticles, Discourse V, p. 33.

[19] oeuvres, Tome 5, p. 13. Treatise on the Love of God, Book 7, Chapter 2.

[20] oeuvres, Tome 5, p. 38. Treatise on the Love of God, Book 7, Chapter 9.

[21] oeuvres, Tome 17, p. 119.

[22] oeuvres, Tome 26, p. 36. The Mystical Exposition of the Canticle of Canticles, Discourse V, p. 35.

[23] oeuvres, Tome 26, p. 36. The Mystical Exposition of the Canticle of Canticles, Discourse V, p. 36.

[24] oeuvres, Tome 9, p. 191.

[25] oeuvres, Tome 7, p. 461.

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