Song of Songs — Chapter 5

Veniat dilectus meus in hortum suum et comedat fructum pomorum suorum

Let my beloved come into his garden and eat the fruit of his apple trees. The Church (having invited the winds) now invites Christ into His garden — that is, into herself, which she acknowledges is more His than hers. The Church offers all her fruits to Christ: first myrrh (= penance and the mortification by which she crushed idolatry and converted the Gentiles); then honey and wine (= the sweetness of the Gospel and its spiritual consolations); then milk (= the simpler doctrines nourishing the newly-converted). Christ accepts the invitation: He comes into His garden and eats — that is, He takes delight in the virtues and good works of the Church, which are His own gifts returned to Him in love. Historically: this refers to the Church's flourishing under Constantine, after three centuries of persecution, when she could finally offer her full fruits to Christ in peace. The invitation \"veniat\" = the Church's perpetual invitation to Christ to dwell and act within her.

Ego dormio et cor meum vigilat vox dilecti mei pulsantis apertimi mihi soror mea amica mea columba mea immaculata mea

I sleep, and my heart watcheth: the voice of my beloved knocking: Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled. The Church sleeps in the repose of peace (under Constantine or in any period of tranquility) while her heart remains watchful in contemplation and devotion. Christ knocks at the door of the sleeping Church to summon her from peaceful repose to the active work of preaching and conversion — for many souls are still outside. The fourfold title (sister, love, dove, undefiled) = Christ's four claims on the Church's attention: she is His sister by nature, His love by election, His dove by the Spirit's indwelling, His undefiled by grace. Christ's head is wet with dew and His locks with the drops of the night = His patience enduring through the night of the world while sinners remain obdurate. Augustine: Christ knocks to rouse the Church from holy leisure to active apostolate.

Expoliavi me tunica mea quomodo induar ea lavi pedes meos quomodo inquinabo eos

I have put off my garment: how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet: how shall I defile them? The Church's hesitation to open to Christ: she has stripped off the garment of the old life and washed her feet — that is, she has attained a certain spiritual peace and purity, and is reluctant to soil herself again with the dust of active apostolate in the world. Two interpretations: (1) The Church, in her holy repose under Constantine, hesitates to re-enter the trials of missionary activity; (2) Tropologically, the soul in contemplation hesitates to return to the active life. Three Anonymi (in Theodoret): this is a rebuke — the Church/soul uses the excuse of spiritual advancement as a reason for inaction, placing personal peace above apostolic charity. Origen: the answer to the hesitation is given by Christ Himself, who insists by knocking. The garment = baptismal grace; the feet = the affections.

Dilectus meus misit manum suam per foramen et venter meus intremuit ad tactum eius

My beloved put his hand through the key hole, and my belly trembled at his touch. Christ sent His hand through the opening = He sent the impulse of grace into the Church's heart, stirring her from within, even when she did not open the door immediately. The Church's interior trembling = the movement of grace, the efficacious touch of God awakening the soul to action. Gregory: this is how grace operates — when external appeals fail, God acts internally by moving the will from within. The \"hand\" of Christ = His grace, His Spirit, His power operating secretly in souls. The trembling of the belly = the deepest interior movement of charity and desire, moved by Christ's initiative even before the will fully surrenders. Cassiodorus: the Church, moved by this interior impulse, now arose to open — that is, went forth to preach (cf. the Church's activity after Constantine). The verse teaches that divine grace does not force the will but touches it with irresistible sweetness.

Surrexi ut aperirem dilecto meo manus meae stillaverunt myrrham et digiti mei pleni myrrha probatissima

I arose up to open to my beloved: my hands dropped with myrrh, and my fingers were full of the choicest myrrh. The Church rises and acts: she opens herself to Christ's call and her hands drip with myrrh. The myrrh from her hands = (1) The Church's penitential preaching and its fruit: the conversions of sinners through tears of contrition; (2) The martyrdoms and sufferings willingly embraced as she re-entered active apostolate after the peace of Constantine; (3) Works of mortification accompanying all genuine apostolic work. Gregory: the Church's preachers, when they arise to preach, drip myrrh — their mortified lives make their words effective. The \"choicest myrrh\" (myrrha probatissima) = the highest grade of voluntary penance and suffering, accepted out of love for Christ and zeal for souls. The myrrh on the hands also alludes to the anointing of Christ for burial — the Church carries His Passion in her ministry.

Aperui dilecto meo at ille declinaverat atque transierat anima mea liquefacta est ut locutus est quaesivi illum et non inveni vocavi et non respondit mihi

I opened the bolt of my door to my beloved: but he had withdrawn himself, and was gone. My soul melted when he spoke: I sought him, and found him not: I called, and he did not answer me. The Church opened too late and found Christ gone — that is, the spiritual opportunity was missed through delay. This represents the period when the Church, resting in peace, allowed heresies (Arianism, Nestorianism, etc.) to spread before acting decisively. Christ's withdrawal = God allows the Church to experience the loss of His consoling presence as a punishment for tepidity and a stimulus to greater zeal. The soul \"melted\" when He spoke = the grace of Christ's call was so powerful that even hearing it without yet acting was sufficient to move the soul. The seeking and not finding = the soul's desolation in spiritual dryness, which drives it to seek Christ all the more earnestly. Bernard: Christ withdraws to test love and intensify desire, not to abandon permanently.

Invenerunt me custodes civitatis percusserunt me et vulneraverunt me tulerunt pallium meum mihi custodes murorum

The watchmen who kept the city found me: they struck me and wounded me: the keepers of the walls took away my veil from me. Interpreted historically: the Bride (Church) going out to seek Christ is struck and wounded by the heretics and persecutors who guard their own \"city\" (i.e., heresies, schisms, corrupt authorities). The striking and wounding = persecutions, condemnations, false accusations hurled against the Church. The veil taken away = the attempt to strip the Church of her dignity and authority. Tropologically: the soul seeking God in desolation is attacked by temptations and spiritual sufferings more severe than before. Gregory, Cassiodorus, Bede: the watchmen who wound = false pastors and heretics who harm souls instead of guarding them. The taking of the veil = removing the sign of consecration, attempting to despoil the Church of her union with Christ. True guardians would have guided; these attack instead.

Adiuro vos filiae Hierusalem si inveneritis dilectum meum ut nuntietis ei quia amore langueo

I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if you find my beloved, that you tell him that I languish with love. Despite being wounded, the Church/soul perseveres in seeking Christ, adjuring the daughters of Jerusalem to bring Him her message: that she languishes with love. This languor = not weakness but the excess of charity, which is itself a kind of holy sickness (amore langueo). The Church does not cease seeking Christ even after rejection, humiliation, and suffering — the mark of genuine charity, which is not deterred by suffering. The daughters of Jerusalem = holy souls of lesser advancement who, though they cannot lead the Bride to Christ, can carry her message of longing. Gregory: the Church's persistent love in the face of desolation demonstrates that her love is not founded on sensible consolation but on pure charity.

Qualis est dilectus tuus ex dilecto o pulcherrima mulierum qualis est dilectus tuus quia sic adiurasti nos

What manner of one is thy beloved of the beloved, O thou most beautiful among women? What manner of one is thy beloved of the beloved, that thou hast so adjured us? The daughters of Jerusalem, hearing the Church's earnest adjuration, ask her to describe her Beloved. The question is directed by the daughters to the Bride, who responds in the following verses with the famous description of Christ (vv. 10-16). The daughters' question = an expression of holy curiosity, or the desire of souls moved by the Church's fervent love to learn about Christ. The double repetition = the daughters are astonished by the intensity of the Bride's love and desire to understand what could provoke such devotion. Philo Carpathius: the daughters ask so that by hearing the Bride describe her Beloved, their own love for Christ might be kindled. The question also represents the pagans and Gentiles asking the Church about the object of her faith and love.

Dilectus meus candidus et rubicundus electus ex millibus

My beloved is white and ruddy, chosen out of thousands. The Bridegroom (Christ) is described as white and ruddy — white from His spotless divinity and pure humanity; ruddy from His blood shed in the Passion. Plato: beauty consists in suavity of color and harmony of form. The color of Christ = white (candor of divinity, purity of the Incarnation from the Virgin) + ruddy (humanity derived from Adam who was made from red earth, and from David who was ruddy; also the blood of the Passion). \"Electus ex millibus\" = chosen above all creatures, the most excellent of all beings — elect from eternity in the divine plan of Redemption. Nicephorus (Hist. lib. 1, c. last) describes Christ's physical beauty in detail: a complexion combining white and ruddy, six feet in height, with golden-chestnut hair. This verse is the foundation of all subsequent description of Christ's beauty in this chapter. Gregory of Nyssa: white = the sinless purity of Christ's nature; ruddy = His blood shed for love of us.

Caput eius aurum optimum cincinni eius sicut elatae palmarum nigri quasi corvus

His head is as the finest gold: his locks as branches of palm trees, black as a raven. The head of Christ (His humanity) is crowned with the finest gold of His divinity — the hypostatic union ennobles human nature with the splendor of the divine nature. The Fathers: the head = Christ's divinity, which is as gold in purity and excellence. The locks = (1) the Apostles and their successors, who adorn Christ as hair adorns the head and flow from Him as from the root; (2) the divine thoughts, counsels, and affections of Christ, numerous and copious as hair; (3) the angels who surround and praise the Godhead. The locks are black as a raven = strong, full of vital heat (black = intensity, vigor), never turning grey (= Christ's eternal youth and vigor). Paulinus of Nola (Ep. 4 to Severus): the locks represent the princes of the people who support the Church like the cedars of Lebanon. Gregory of Nyssa: the locks blow in the wind of the Holy Spirit.

Oculi eius sicut columbae super rivulos aquarum quae lacte sunt lotae et resident iuxta fluenta plenissima

His eyes are as doves upon brooks of water, which are washed with milk and sit beside the plentiful streams. The eyes of Christ = His knowledge and mercy. Three aspects: (1) Dove's eyes = simplicity, purity, gentleness, and peaceful gaze of Christ; (2) Sitting upon brooks of water = the eyes of Christ rest upon the streams of Scripture and the flow of grace (He knows all things in the light of the divine Word); (3) Washed with milk = the purity and cleanness of His knowledge, unstained by any shadow of error or ignorance. The \"plentiful streams\" = the abundance of divine grace and wisdom from which Christ looks upon all things. Ambrose: the eyes of Christ washed with milk signify His meekness and compassion, which never look harshly upon those who come to Him. The contemplative soul striving to have the eyes of Christ = striving for purity of intention and simplicity of gaze.

Genae illius sicut areolae aromatum consitae a pigmentariis labia illius lilia distillantia myrrham primam

His cheeks are as beds of aromatical spices set by the perfumers. His lips as lilies dropping choice myrrh. The cheeks of Christ = His humanity in its youthful vigor and beauty; or His mercy and justice (Ps 24:10: \"All the ways of the Lord are mercy and truth\"); or His gentleness in manner and conversation. The aromatic garden-beds = the ordered beauty of Christ's virtues, disposed as a skilled perfumer disposes his herbs — each in its place, none disordered. Jerome (Comment. in Zachariam): Christ's words are like a bed of spices — ordered by their subjects and times, speaking without confusion or disorder. Ambrose: Christ's cheeks = His mercy, which attracts even the sinful, as the fragrance of aromatics draws the passerby. The lips dropping myrrh = Christ's doctrine, which is sweet (lily) yet also mortifying (myrrh): His preaching calls to penance as much as to consolation.

Manus illius tornatiles aureae plenae hyacinthis venter eius eburneus distinctus sapphiris

His hands are turned and as of gold, full of hyacinths. His belly as of ivory, set with sapphires. The hands of Christ = His works and benefits: \"tornatiles\" (lathe-turned, finished on all sides) = perfect from every angle, with nothing deficient or excessive. Christ's works (healing, teaching, raising the dead, forgiving sins) are universally admired: even His enemies could find no fault in them. Full of hyacinths = adorned with the sky-blue of heavenly origin; His works are heavenly in character, coming from a divine hand. The belly (venter) = the inner counsels and affections of Christ, like polished ivory in their purity; set with sapphires = His virtues and miracles, which gleam like sapphires (blue = heavenly character). Rupert: the ivory belly = the humanity of Christ, purer than all other human flesh, since it came from the Virgin; the sapphires = the display of His divinity through the miracles worked in the Passion (earthquake, darkness, veil torn, dead rising).

Crura illius columnae mereae fundatae super bases aureas species eius ut Libani electus ut cedri

His legs are as pillars of marble that are set upon bases of gold. His stature is as Lebanon, as choice as the cedars. The legs = Christ's journeys through Judaea and the whole world by His preachers; the progress of the Gospel through all nations, described as columns of marble (firm, strong, pure) set upon bases of gold (the divine authority and grace of the Apostles). Lebanon = whiteness, purity, and elevation; Christ is chosen above all as cedars are chosen above all trees. The cedar = (1) incorruptible and sweet-smelling = Christ's immortal, fragrant humanity; (2) tall = the dignity and eminence of His nature; (3) chosen for building the Temple = Christ chosen as the foundation of the Church. Luke the Abbot: Christ's greatness compared to cedar, because every action of His life was offered to God as a perfect incense-sacrifice. Theodoret: Lebanon = frankincense (thus = Christ's divinity); cedar = His humanity (incorruptible).

Guttur illius suavissimum et totus desiderabilis talis est dilectus meus et iste est amicus meus filiae Hierusalem

His throat is most sweet, and he is wholly desirable: such is my beloved, and he is my friend, O ye daughters of Jerusalem. The throat = Christ's divine eloquence and preaching, sweeter than all human speech. \"Totally desirable\" (totus desiderabilis) = every part of Christ is wholly worthy of love and desire: His divinity, humanity, virtues, words, deeds, Passion, Resurrection — all are to be desired above all things. The conclusion of the description of Christ by the Bride ends with the total surrender of the soul to Him: she declares Him to be at once her Beloved (dilectus = object of passionate love) and her Friend (amicus = companion and helper). This double title = love united with friendship; not merely ardent emotion but stable, rational, faithful attachment. The Bride presents this description to the daughters of Jerusalem = the Church displays Christ's beauty to the world to draw all souls to Him.