Salesian Literature

Part III: The Mystical Exposition of the Canticle of Canticles

::   Foreword   ::   Preface   ::   Discourse 1   ::   Discourse 2   ::   Discourse 3   ::   Discourse 4   ::   Discourse 5   ::   Discourse 6

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Discourse 3

        

Third Obstacle: Human Praises

The soul, making its way degree by degree in holy prayer, is rendered so resplendent that it is impossible that it not be admired.  And it is impossible that even the world, seeing it in the midst of the desert entangled by so many sins to walk aright, in the same way as a column of odoriferous perfume which is raised toward heaven, should not exclaim: Who is this who walks by the desert in the same way as a ray of perfume, of aromatic spices, of myrrh and of incense and of all sorts of powders for embellishing? (3:6).  Now, this public applause is a hidden and sweetened venom which quite often causes the most holy and devout to lose their justice and their devotion.

        

Remedy: To be attentive to the praises of God

Whoever hears his own praises, let him be turned toward those of God; let him persuade the one who praises him not to wish to praise a thing of such small merit, but that he should raise up the praises of God from our baseness and littleness.  And if he cannot so much fix his eyes on the Divinity, let him at least praise Jesus Christ the man, our true Solomon, and this principally in three things: the flesh, the cross, and the glory, saying: See how worthy is his flesh, the bed of his Divinity and of his soul, surrounded by more than sixty valiant soldiers who defend it against whoever, by night, could make him fear.  This flesh, which is not inclined to sin as ours, but, by the hypostatic union and by the empire which it holds over Angels, is entirely infallible and impeccable: Behold that sixty of the strongest men of Israel surround the bed of Solomon, all holding swords and also skilled in war, each of whom holds his sword upright over his thigh for fears of the night (3:7-8).

        

As fro the Cross, O how holy it is! It is made of wood, but of the wood of Lebanon, meaning incorruptible: King Solomon has made himself a litter of the wood of Lebanon.  Justice and mercy are the two columns which sustain this Cross: He has made the columns out of silver.  Is support or resting place is made of gold, seeing that all is done to lead souls to glory, the support of gold.  Its beam is made of purple, for he leads us to the glory of his blood.  And all this, for the souls of the Church, of whom it is said: In the midst it is ornamented by charity for the daughters of Jerusalem.  From that there follows fro this Lord the crown of glory of his Resurrection and Ascension, which must enrapture all the world in his praise: Go out, daughters of Zion, and see King Solomon with the diadem with which his mother has crowned him on the day of his espousals and on the day of the joy of his heart (3:9, 11).

        

Third degree: The soul considers God in itself

Therefore, the soul, again offering its praises in those of God, takes care to adorn itself in all its parts in order to be pleasing to Him who alone it esteems worthy of all praises.  Now its mystical parts are these: the eyes, meaning the intentions which move it; the hairs, meaning the affections (love, hate, desire and others) which, like hairs, are neither good nor evil, except in so far as they are employed for good or for evil; the teeth, meaning the senses which chew all the foods that must enter into the stomach of the understanding; the lips and the speech, meaning the thoughts which, in the fashion of interior words, produce inaudible discourses.  The cheeks are the two rational powers, which are the understanding and the will; the neck, the irascible force which drives away and repels the obstacles; the breasts are the two actions of the concupiscent part, namely to follow the good, to avoid the evil.  All that must be ornamented and embellished, so that God may love the soul and that he could say: How beautiful you are, my beloved, how beautiful you are!

        

The intentions must be simple, pure and interior, so that one could not say that the one is on the outside and the other on the inside, and that they are crossed and diverse: Your eyes are those of a dove, without that which is hidden within.

        

The affections must not be dispersed, but gathered and united as a flock under the staff of the sovereign Pastor: Your hairs are like flocks of sheep which from Mount Gilead.

        

The senses must be guarded as in prison, such as the teeth are under the lips, or as ewes newly washed; and their twins, meaning the apprehensive and the appetitive faculties, must be held in rank and regulated: your teeth are like flocks of ewes freshly shorn which return from the washing, each with two twins, and not one of them is sterile.

        

The thoughts must be so well accommodated that all the conceptions be dyed in the blood of the Saviour, an the words and discourses full of sweetness and profit for the neighbour: Your lips are like a band of purple colour, and your speech is very sweet.

        

The understanding and will must demonstrate the ability of comprehending the good and choosing to do it.  And, as in an open pomegranate, all will be discovered there; nothing will appear there unsightly or disagreeable.  And these two powers will always be humble and subdued: Your cheeks are like freshly cut pomegranate, without that which is hidden within.

        

The irascible part will be so valiant against temptations that one will be able to say: Your neck is like the tower of David, fortified with bulwarks: a thousand bucklers are hanging upon it and all sorts of arms for the strong men.  And concerning the concupiscent part, it will exercise its desire for the good and its flight from the evil so simply that one will be able to say: Your two breasts are like two fawns of goats that one grazes among the lilies (4:15).

        

Finally the Bridegroom who, after his Ascension, has gone to the mountain of myrrh and to the hill of incense in Heaven, at the right hand of the Father, as he had predicted (Before the day declines and the shades lower themselves, I will go o the mountain of myrrh and to the hill of incense), he will praise the soul, saying: You are entirely beautiful, O my beloved, and there is not one small mark on you.  And he will invite her to pass from the militant, saying: Come from Lebanon, my spouse, come from Lebanon, come.  And he will promise her the crowns and thrones from which the demons were chased: You will be crowned on high on Mount Amana, upon the summit of Sanir and of Hermon, on the thrones of lions, on the mountains of leopards (4:6-8).

        

All these ornaments are agreeable to God, but above all is the clarity and purity of intention, which must be so great that all our ends are reduced to one end, all our intentions to one intention, all our desires to one desire – that of loving and serving God, in such a way that there will not be more than one eye: You have broken my heart, my sister, my spouse, you have broken my heart with one of your eyes; and that there will not be more than one hair, of which it follows: and by one of the hairs of your neck (4:9).

        

The intention being well-dressed with desire, the breasts of the concupiscence will be well ordered: How beautiful are your breasts, my sister, my spouse!  Your breasts are more beautiful than wine.  The example will be of good fragrance: The fragrance of your perfume is beyond all aromatic spice.  The thoughts and words will be most devout and sweet: Your lips are a ray of honey which drips; that which is under your tongue is milk and honey.  The actions will be most exemplary: The fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of incense (4:10,11).

        

Let us say thus: the actions penetrating to a soul are interior or exterior; the exterior ones are made by the commandment of the interior ones.  Concerning the interior actions, it is necessary that they be fastened in God without the world seeing them; that is why he says: A closed garden is my sister, my spouse; she is a garden closed and firm; she is a sealed fountain.  Concerning the exterior actions, it is necessary that they be like a beautiful paradise: That which you put forth and place outside is like a paradise in which one may see all virtues: pomegranate, the fruits of apples, balm with nard and saffron, sugar and cinnamon and all sorts of fruits 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 rises up to heaven with impetuosity, similar to that of the waters which come from Lebanon: The fountain of the gardens, the streams of living waters, which flow impetuously from Lebanon (4:12-15).

        

But in all this, two things, are required.  On the part of God, that he chase away the winter wind of temptations and that he send the midday breeze of his prevenient grace, saying: Flee, Aquilon, and come, O Midday; blow in my garden, and the fragrance of it will be spread about.  On the part of the soul, that it may accept this grace and cooperate with it, saying: Let my Beloved come into his garden, and let him eat of the fruit of his apple trees (4:16, 5:1).

        

Thus, after the myrrh of penitence, God will draw the soul, by means of holy exercises, in the aromatic fragrances of prayer, with the honey, milk and wine of meditation, love and contemplation, but a contemplation that will produce delights, joys, and ecstasies which not only will quench the thirst, but will inebriate.  And Our Lord will be able to say: Behold that I wait you. Come into my garden, my sister, my spouse.  I have culled and reaped my myrrh with my flowers and fragrances spread about.  I have eaten of ray of honey with the honey itself and I have drunk my wine with my milk.  Eat, my friends; drink and inebriate yourselves, my most dear ones (5:1).

 

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