Salesian Literature

Part II:  Salesian Commentary

A. Version and Commentary of St. Francis de Sales

::   Prologue   ::   First Poem   ::   Second Poem   ::   Third Poem   ::   Fourth Poem   ::   Fifth Poem   ::   The Denouement   ::   Appendices

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Appendices (8:8-14)

 

The Bridegroom in the Canticle of Canticles uses admirable terms in order to describe the modesty, chastity and most innocent candour of his divine loves with our dear beloved Spouse.

Therefore, he says this:

 

8:8 Our sister, this small little girl

      alas, how small she is!

      She does not even have breasts.

      What will we do to her on the day

      that it will be necessary to speak to her?

 

8:9 And if it is a wall, a tower,

      let us make some ramparts of silver for it;

      and if it is a door,

      it is necessary to reinforce it

      and to double the boards of cedars.

 

Behold how this divine Bridegroom speaks of the purity of the most holy Virgin, of the Church, or of the devout soul.  But he addresses himself principally to the most holy Virgin, who was this divine Sulamite, par excellence, above all the others.

 

“Our sister, she is small; she does not even have breasts,” meaning she does not even think of marriage.  One commonly says: such a girl is grand, she is ready to be married.  But Our Lady, in the same way that her heavenly Bridegroom assures her, does not even think of marriage, for she has neither the heart nor the care for that: “What will we do to her on the day that it will be necessary to speak to her?”  what does this mean: “on the day that it will be necessary to speak to her?”  The divine Bridegroom, does he not always speak to her when it pleases him?  “On that day that it will be necessary to speak to her” means (to speak) the principal word, which is when one speaks to the girls about marrying them, seeing that it is a word of importance, since it proceeds from the choice and election of a vocation and of a state in which it is necessary afterwards to live.

 

“And,” says the sacred Bridegroom, “if it is a wall, let us make ramparts of silver for it; if it is a door, on the contrary, let us wish to dig to the bottom of it; let us double it and reinforce the boards with cedar, which is an incorruptible wood.”

 

The most glorious Virgin was a “tower” and (made) of ramparts very high in the enclosure of which the enemy could by no means enter, (having) no sort of other desires than of living in perfect purity and virginity.

 

“What will we do to her?”  For she must be married, he who has given her this resolution of virginity having thus ordered it.

 

“If it is a tower or a rampart, let us establish above ramparts of silver,” which, instead of battering down the tower, will further reinforce it.  What is the glorious St. Joseph, if not a strong rampart who has been established above Our Lady, since, being his spouse, she was subject to him and he had care of her?

 

Therefore, on the contrary to St. Joseph’s (being) above Our Lady in order to make her break her vow of virginity, he had been given to her for her companion and so that the purity of Our Lady could be more admirably preserved in its integrity under the veil and shade of holy marriage and of the holy union which they had together.

 

“If the most holy Virgin is a door,” says the Eternal Father, we do not wish that she be opened, for it is an oriental door by which no one can enter or exit.  On the contrary, he doubles and reinforces it with incorruptible wood, meaning (by) giving her a companion in her purity, who is the great St. Joseph, who by this effect came to surpass all the Saints, and even the Angels and the Cherubim themselves, in this so highly recommended virtue of virginity, (a) virginity which rendered him similar to the palm tree, in the same way (as) we have said.[1]

 

8:10 I am a wall, and my breasts (are) like a tower

        which I have made

        finding repose and peace in him.

 

My Bridegroom (has) made me lick such a wall and like such a tower that I am very pleasing and agreeable.

 

In the rest, no care of herself can deter her: Little, says the soul, is necessary to (one) who can live in the peace of Our Lord and with modesty.  “A thousand pieces of silver” of some other great price is (a) thing of too little value:

 

8:11 The man who has peace in himself

        has a vineyard in which (there) are poplars;

        he has opened it to his guards,

        and one renders to him for the fruits of it

        a thousand pieces of silver.

 

And me, says the soul, I do not at all have concern of such things:

 

8:12 My vineyard is before me,

      in the same way as a thousand peaceful (ones).

 

On the contrary, I wish further to give “two hundred” for alms to those poor who, with their prayers, guards our goods:

 

      And two hundred to those who guard its fruit.

 

I know, says the soul, that my Beloved does not wish to endure rivals and that with the consolations which he gives me, he does not want that I mix the consolations that others than he could give me.  But he commands me that, (by) awaking and resigning myself from all (entirely) to Him (and) with a clear and open protestation, I renounce all other bridegrooms:

 

8:13 You who inhabit the gardens,

      your friends listen to you:

      make me hear your voice.

 

And, consequently, behold me, ready to obey him; no more the world nor its pleasures, no more any mortal thing, O God, my God, you are my only Beloved; you alone are my Good; it is you alone whom I seek.[2]

 

The Canticle of Canticles is the wedding song of the Church and of Christ.  Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Solomon begins by a desire for union: “Let him kiss me.”  (What does it mean, if not that he comes and unties himself to me by the Incarnation, that mystery of Wisdom, going forth from the mouth of the Most High, uniting itself to our flesh (Eccl. 19:1)…)  And he finishes by the Ascension:

 

8:14 Flee, my Beloved, he says,

        and be similar to the roe

        and to the fawn of the doe

        on the fragrant mountains.

 

The Blessed Bernard, in accord with most of the commentators, applies these words to the Ascension of the Lord…

 

The soul, says St. Bernard, does not wish, like St. Peter, to inhabit a tabernacle built on an earthly mountain; it wants Heaven. It does not wish, like Mary Magdalene, to touch Our Lord on earth; on the contrary, it exclaims: “Flee; and be similar to the roe…”, (for) the roe gains the summit of the mounts in order to see more distinctly all things at its feet and (to be) nearer to contemplate the Sun.

 

“Flee, but be similar to the roe,” who looks behind him in fleeing… (send us another Paraclete Jn. 16:16-20)…  “and to the fawn of the does,” which, although it mounts by leaping, looks, at each instant, at where it has left its mother.

 

Thus, Christ looks at human nature by his returning, (by) sending it the gift of the Holy Spirit.[3]

 

And, to conclude, nothing remains for us to do (other) than to pray Our Lord that he wishes by his mercy to draw us to himself, so that, being already united with him by Grace, we may further (united) by Devotion, (and) so that after death, we could be eternally (united) by Glory.  And in all his holy unions, let him kiss us, this divine Bridegroom, with a kiss of his sacred mouth.[4]

 

(Such is) infinite happiness, which has not only been promised to us, but of which we have (a) deposit in the most holy Sacrament of the Eucharist, (the) perpetual Banquet of divine Grace.  For in it we receive the blood of the Saviour in his flesh and his flesh in his blood, his blood being applied to us by his flesh, by substance by his substance, to our corporal mouths, so that we may know that in this way he will apply to us his Divine Essence in the Eternal Banquet of Glory.

 

It is true that here this favour is really done for us, but in a hidden way, under the sacramental species and appearance, whereas in Heaven, the Divinity will give itself in an open way, and we will see it (the Divinity) Face to Face, as it is(*).[5]

 

(*) This concludes the choice of texts of St. Francis de Sales commenting on the Canticle of Canticles.  Five narratives, inspired directly by the Canticle follow.

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[1] Oeuvres de St. Francois de Sales. Annecy: Religieuses de la Visitation, 1893-1993), Tome 6, p. 357.

[2] Oeuvres, Tome 26, p. 38. The Mystical Exposition of the Canticle of Canticles, trans. Henry Benedict, Canon Mackey, D.D., O.S.B. (publication information unknown), Discourse VI, p. 38-40.

[3] Oeuvres, Tome 8, p. 120.

[4] Oeuvres, Tome 26, p. 39. The Mystical Exposition of the Canticle of Canticles, Discourse VI, p. 40-41.

[5] Oeuvres, Tome 4, p. 202. Treatise on the Love of God, Book 3, Chapter 11.

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