Song of Songs — Chapter 2

Ego flos campi et lilium convallium

Christ the Bridegroom speaks, calling Himself the flower of the field and lily of the valleys. This self-identification is an act of humility. The \"flower of the field\" = Christ is accessible to all, not enclosed in a private garden, since He came for the whole human race without exception. The lily of the valleys = He chose the valleys of humility, not the mountains of pride; the Incarnation is the supreme act of divine condescension. Chrysostom and others: the flower is ephemeral, beautiful but passing — Christ's mortal life was brief, but its fragrance endures forever. Tropologically: the lily signifies chastity and the purity of His virginal conception. Four characteristics of the lily: white (signifying purity), fragrant (good odor of Christ), multi-petaled (many virtues), bending toward the sun (Christ's perpetual orientation to the Father).

Sicut lilium inter spinas, sic amica mea inter filias

As a lily among thorns, so is my beloved among the daughters. Christ compares the Church to a lily among thorns, that is: (1) the Church is uniquely beautiful in the world, surrounded by the thorns of wicked men and heretics; (2) the Church is chaste and pure amid the corrupt societies of the world; (3) thorns = heresies, schisms, pagan nations which surround the Church but cannot corrupt her; (4) the Church's beauty is made more resplendent by contrast with the surrounding wickedness, as a lily gleams more brightly against thorns. Bernard: the more the lily is pressed by thorns, the more fragrance it exudes — so the Church, pressed by persecution, pours out the fragrance of martyrdom and sanctity. The \"daughters\" = pagan nations and heretical sects which claim kinship with the true Bride but lack her beauty.

Sicut malus inter ligna silvarum, sic dilectus meus inter filios

As the apple tree among the trees of the forest, so is my beloved among men. Christ alone gives fruit (salvation), shade (protection from the heat of tribulation), and sweetness (spiritual consolation). Other men — even wise and holy ones — are \"trees of the forest\" bearing no fruit for eternal life. The shade of the apple tree = the shadow of Christ's Passion and the protection of His grace in tribulation (sitting under His shadow = spiritual contemplation). Tropologically: the apple tree = the Cross of Christ, which bears the fruit of eternal life. The apple = the Eucharist and the Body of Christ. Sitting under His shadow with great delight = the soul's repose in contemplation, fed by the sweetness of Christ's word and sacraments. Several Fathers see the apple tree as a type of the Cross, since fruit hangs from the tree as Christ hung on the wood.

Introduxit me in cellam vinariam, ordinavit in me caritatem

He brought me into the cellar of wine and set charity in order in me. The wine cellar = the treasury of divine love, charity itself, where the Bride is inebriated with spiritual love. Three senses of \"ordinavit caritatem\": (1) He ordered charity in her, giving it proper disposition — love of God above all, love of neighbor next, love of self in right order (Bernard); (2) He reduced all her disordered loves to right order; (3) He Himself in the Church is the source and order of all love. Bernard: it is the singular prerogative of divine love that it alone orders all loves rightly, for it is the principle of all virtue. The wine cellar also signifies the Incarnation, or the upper room where the Holy Spirit was poured out at Pentecost — the gift of charity. The inebriating wine of charity = the Holy Spirit (Ambrose, Chrysostom).

Fulcite me floribus, stipate me malis, quia amore langueo

Support me with flowers, surround me with apples, for I am languishing with love. The Bride languishes with love for the Bridegroom — not a sickly love but the holy \"languor\" (longing) produced by intense charity for God. The Church languishes: (1) with desire for the full coming of Christ's kingdom; (2) with desire for the conversion of sinners; (3) with desire for the final union with Christ in heaven; (4) with desire for contemplation and union with God. \"Flowers\" = newly-converted souls or various charisms and virtues that refresh the soul in her love-languor. \"Apples\" = mature souls and the good works of the Church. Philo Carpathius: the languor of love is the highest state of charity, where the soul, consumed by love, can barely support herself without the help of Christ's consolations and the company of fervent souls.

Laeva eius sub capite meo et dextera illius amplexabitur me

His left hand is under my head and his right hand shall embrace me. The left hand = Christ's temporal gifts, earthly consolations, and the blessings of this life which support the soul's head (reason and faith). The right hand = eternal blessings, the embrace of glory and spiritual consolation in the present life, the beatific vision in eternity. Bernard: the left hand = the remembrance of Christ's temporal life (Incarnation, poverty, sufferings); the right hand = the contemplation of His divinity and eternal glory. The Church, supported by Christ's left hand (earthly sustaining providence) and embraced by His right hand (spiritual grace and love), is perfectly cared for. This posture = the mystical marriage of Christ and the Church, consummated first in grace and finally in glory.

Adiuro vos filiae Hierusalem per capreas cervosque camporum ne suscitetis neque evigilare faciatis dilectam donec ipsa velit

I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes and stags of the fields, that you stir not up nor wake the beloved until she please. Christ addresses the daughters of Jerusalem (= angels and saints in heaven, or holy souls in the Church) adjuring them not to disturb the Bride's holy repose and contemplation — the spiritual sleep in which she rests in God. The roes and stags = swift, agile creatures, signifying those who have transcended earthly things and live in spiritual freedom. The adjuration not to disturb = a command that the soul in contemplative union with God not be dragged away by worldly cares or distractions. Anagogically: the blessed sleep of the Church = her gradual progress toward the final rest in heaven, not to be hastened by impatience. Bernard: this rest in God must be respected even by good things, lest devotion disturb devotion.

Vox dilecti mei, ecce iste venit saliens in montibus transiliens colles

The voice of my beloved! Behold, he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping over the hills. The Bride, hearing the voice of the Bridegroom coming, cries out for joy. Three principal interpretations: (1) The Incarnation — Christ came leaping from heaven, passing through the angelic hierarchies (mountains/hills), arriving at the womb of the Virgin; (2) The voice = the Gospel preached, Christ running swiftly through the world by His preachers; (3) The Resurrection and Ascension — Christ leaping from death to life, from earth to heaven. The mountains = Patriarchs and great prophets; the hills = minor prophets and holy men of the Old Law. Christ leaps over them all in the excess of His perfection, yet also fulfills and surpasses all they prefigured. Bernard: the leaping shows the excess of Christ's love — He could not remain in heaven while His beloved was in distress.

Similis est dilectus meus capreae hinnuloque cervorum; en ipse stat post parietem nostrum, respiciens per fenestras, prospiciens per cancellos

My beloved is like a roe or a young hart. Behold, he standeth behind our wall, looking through the windows, looking through the lattices. This verse describes Christ's manner of presence in the Church during the time between the Incarnation and the Second Coming. The wall = the veil of the flesh (Christ's humanity), through which His divinity could be seen only imperfectly. The windows = the Sacred Scriptures and the sacraments through which Christ shows Himself to the Church. The lattices = the partial and imperfect knowledge of God available in this life (1 Cor 13:12, \"we see through a glass, darkly\"). Origen: Christ stands at the door of the soul, looking through the windows of sacred letters and rational faculties. Ambrose: Christ looks through the window of the prophets, the lattice of the Apostles. The roe/hart imagery = swiftness of Christ's grace and mercy, returning rapidly to those who seek Him.

En dilectus meus loquitur mihi: Surge propera amica mea, columba mea, formosa mea et veni

Behold my beloved speaketh to me: Arise, make haste, my love, my dove, my beautiful one, and come. Christ invites the Church to rise from the repose of contemplation and go forth actively to the conversion of souls and the proclamation of the Gospel. The triple title — \"amica, columba, formosa\" — signifies the Church's love, simplicity/purity (dove), and beauty of grace. The invitation to \"arise and come\" = Christ's perpetual summons to the Church to advance in virtue, to emerge from spiritual lethargy, to abandon attachment to earthly things and follow Him actively. Historically: Christ summoned the primitive Church at Pentecost to emerge from the upper room and preach to all nations. Tropologically: the soul is summoned from spiritual sloth and worldly attachment to active charity and apostolic zeal.

Iam enim hiems transiit imber abiit et recessit

For winter is now past, the rain is over and gone. The winter = the long winter of the Old Law, of darkness, coldness, and spiritual barrenness before the coming of Christ. The rain = the obscure and difficult Law of Moses, which fell upon the earth but did not suffice to bring forth the fruits of holiness (Gregory, Cassiodorus). With the Incarnation, winter passes: the Law is fulfilled, the Gentiles are called, the Holy Spirit is poured out. Four interpretations: (1) winter = the time before the Incarnation; (2) winter = the tribulations and persecutions of the primitive Church (now ended with Constantine); (3) winter = the spiritual dryness that precedes conversion; (4) winter = death, overcome by the Resurrection of Christ. Bede: \"hiems transiit\" = the rigors of the Old Law have passed and the grace of the New Law has come in its place.

Flores apparuerunt in terra nostra tempus putationis advenit vox turturis audita est in terra nostra

Flowers have appeared in our land; the time of pruning is come; the voice of the turtle is heard in our land. The flowers = the first fruits of the Church: the Apostles, martyrs, virgins, and confessors who appeared with the coming of Christ. Time of pruning = (1) the apostolic preaching which cut away the heresies and thorns of paganism; (2) the time of moral reformation and penance; (3) the Last Judgment, which separates the weeds from the wheat. The voice of the turtle-dove = the Holy Spirit (who descended as a dove), heard in the land through the preaching of the Gospel. Cassiodorus: the turtle-dove = Christ's faithful preachers, who like turtle-doves mourn for sins and call souls to penance. Historically: the voice of the turtle is heard when the Holy Spirit descends at Pentecost and the Apostles begin to preach.

Ficus protulit grossos suos vineae florentes dederunt odorem suum

The fig tree hath put forth her green figs; the vines in flower yield their sweet smell. The fig tree = the Synagogue of the Jews, which put forth her early figs (the first Jewish converts to Christ — Apostles, disciples, and the faithful of Jerusalem). The vines = the Church of the Gentiles, blossoming at Pentecost and yielding the fragrance of faith and charity through the apostolic preaching. Historically: the fig tree's green figs = the 3,000 converted at Pentecost, the first fruits of the Church. The vines in flower = the Gentile churches established by the Apostles. Bede and Jerome: the fig tree and vineyard together represent the two peoples — Jews and Gentiles — united in the one Church of Christ. The \"sweet smell\" of the vines = the good odor of Christian life and martyrdom spreading throughout the empire.

Columba mea in foraminibus petrae in caverna maceriae ostende mihi faciem tuam sonet vox tua in auribus meis vox enim tua dulcis et facies tua decora

My dove in the clefts of the rock, in the hollow places of the wall, shew me thy face, let thy voice sound in my ears; for thy voice is sweet and thy face comely. The dove = the Church, the Holy Spirit's dwelling. The clefts of the rock = the wounds of Christ's Passion — specifically the five wounds, in which the Church is hidden and protected, as a dove in the cleft of a rock (Jerome, Gregory, Bernard). The hollow of the wall = the hollow of the Church (Cassiodorus); or the crevices of Holy Scripture where the dove (devout reader) shelters. Christ asks the Church to show her face (= her faith and devotion openly confessed) and to let her voice sound (= public prayer and praise, liturgical worship). The voice of the Church is sweet to Christ because it is the voice of prayer, confession, and the praise of God. The comely face = the Church's beauty of virtue and fervent charity.

Capite nobis vulpes parvulas quae demoliuntur vineas nam vinea nostra floruit

Catch us the little foxes that destroy the vines, for our vineyard hath flourished. The vineyard = the Church of Christ. The little foxes = heresies and their originators, called \"little\" because they often begin from small disputes and subtle errors (Origen, Theodoret). \"Catch them\" = suppress, refute, and condemn the heresies before they destroy the vines (the faithful). The plural \"nobis\" (catch for us) implies that Christ and the Church act together through her pastors and doctors to oppose errors. Historically: the little foxes = the early heresies that attacked the primitive Church when it was just beginning to flourish. Gregory: the foxes are cunning — they do not attack openly but slyly and by night; so heresies work subtly, corrupting souls by specious arguments before the damage is detected. Bede: the vineyard flourishing makes the foxes more dangerous, since there is more to destroy.

Dilectus meus mihi et ego illi qui pascitur inter lilia

My beloved to me, and I to him who feedeth among the lilies. The Church proclaims her mutual possession with Christ: she belongs entirely to Him and He to her. \"Qui pascitur inter lilia\" — Christ feeds (pastures, delights) among the lilies of the Church: among virgins, pure souls, and those who keep their hearts white and fragrant with virtue. The mutual belonging = the mystical marriage of Christ and the Church, expressed in the reciprocal formula. Gregory and Cassiodorus: this verse summarizes the entire relationship of Christ and the Church — mutual gift, mutual possession, mutual delight. Tropologically: the soul belongs entirely to Christ when she has given herself without reservation; Christ belongs to the soul when she has admitted Him fully into her interior. The lilies = the chaste and pure; Christ takes delight in the company of those who imitate His own purity.

Donec aspiret dies et inclinentur umbrae revertere similis esto dilecte mi capreae hinnuloque cervorum super montes Bether

Until the day breathe and the shadows retire. Return: be like, my beloved, to a roe or to a young hart upon the mountains of Bether (separation). The \"day\" that breathes = the Day of Judgment and the Day of Eternity, when all shadows of faith and hope pass away in the light of vision. Until that day, the Church implores Christ to return repeatedly — that is, to visit her constantly with new graces, new consolations, new spiritual presence. \"Montes Bether\" (mountains of separation) = (1) the distances and difficulties that separate the soul from perfect union with God in this life; (2) the obstacles of sin and concupiscence that must be leaped over; (3) the various tribulations and trials. Bede and Rupert: Bether = separation; the mountains are the sins and passions that divide the soul from God. The Church longs for the final Day when all separation ends.