Song of Songs — Chapter 6

Quo abiit dilectus tuus o pulcherrima mulierum quo declinavit dilectus tuus et quaeremus eum tecum

Whither is thy beloved gone, O thou most beautiful among women? Whither is thy beloved turned aside, and we will seek him with thee? The daughters of Jerusalem, hearing the Bride's description of her Beloved, desire to seek Christ with her. This represents: (1) The Gentiles and pagans converted to Christianity by the Church's preaching, asking to be led to Christ; (2) In the end times, Jews converted by Elijah asking where Christ has gone (i.e., the Church, which maintains Christ's presence). The daughters now go from asking \"what is your beloved?\" to \"where is he?\" — a progression from curiosity to desire to seek. Tropologically: the soul advanced in virtue draws others after her toward God by the very fervor of her love. The offer to seek Christ together = the Church's universal and inclusive mission. No soul seeks Christ alone; the communion of the Church accompanies each soul's search.

Dilectus meus descendit in hortum suum ad areolam aromatum ut pascatur in hortis et lilia colligat

My beloved is gone down into his garden, to the bed of aromatical spices, to feed in the gardens and to gather lilies. The Bride (Church) reveals where Christ has gone: into His garden (= the Church itself, or the Blessed Virgin's womb, or the soul of the just). \"He descended\" = the Incarnation, by which Christ descended from heaven into the garden of human nature. He feeds in the gardens = Christ nourishes Himself (takes delight) in the virtues and good works of His faithful, as described in Sg 5:1. He gathers lilies = He gathers the souls of the pure, the virgins, and the saints to Himself — both in death (taking them to heaven) and in the end-times gathering of the elect. Nyssen: Christ is found where He is sought if the seeker has made herself a garden of virtues. The verse teaches that Christ is not absent from the Church but is hidden within her, feeding among the lilies.

Ego dilecto meo et dilectus meus mihi qui pascitur inter lilia

I to my beloved, and my beloved to me, who feedeth among the lilies. The Church returns to the refrain of mutual possession (cf. Sg 2:16), but now the order is reversed: formerly \"dilectus meus mihi et ego illi,\" now \"ego dilecto meo et dilectus meus mihi.\" The reversal = the Church's fuller surrender; she puts herself first in giving, placing Christ's reception before her own. This is the deeper stage of mystical union: not \"He is mine and I am His\" but \"I belong to Him first, and He is mine as a result.\" Gregory of Nyssa: the soul imitates Christ so perfectly that whoever sees her sees Christ; she has put on the forma Christi completely. Philo Carpathius: this verse describes the transformation of the soul into Christ by grace, so that nothing remains in her that is not His. The lilies among which Christ feeds = the pure and virginal souls who form the most intimate garden of His delight.

Pulchra es amica mea suavis et decora sicut Hierusalem terribilis ut castrorum acies ordinata

Thou art beautiful, O my love, sweet and comely as Jerusalem: terrible as an army set in array. The Church renewed in the post-Nicene era is as beautiful as Jerusalem (the city of peace and the faithful) and as terrible as an army in battle formation. \"Pulchra et suavis\" = beautiful in doctrine, sweet in charity. \"Terribilis ut acies ordinata\" = terrifying to enemies (heretics, tyrants, demons) because she is ordered, disciplined, and united under Christ her Commander. The Church overcame Arianism, Nestorianism, Eutychianism, Pelagianism, and all other heresies by her Councils and by the invincible faith of her Pontiffs. Historically: the verse describes the Church reformed after the Arian crisis through the great Councils and reforming Bishops (Athanasius, Hilary, Basil, Ambrose, Augustine). In the end times: the Church united with the converted Synagogue will be doubly beautiful and doubly terrible to the forces of Antichrist.

Averte oculos tuos a me quia ipsi me avolare fecerunt

Turn away thy eyes from me, for they have made me flee away. Several interpretations: (1) Christ addresses the Church: \"Turn your eyes from me\" = not a rebuke but a loving expression of the power of the Church's gaze to \"capture\" Christ's heart and oblige Him to act on her behalf; the eyes of faith and love are so powerful they \"make Him flee\" to do her will; (2) Gregory and Cassiodorus: the Church's eyes = the pure intention of her contemplative prayer, which penetrates heaven; (3) Ambrose: Christ asks the soul to turn from gazing fixedly on His divinity and return to the active life for the good of neighbors; (4) Nyssen: a warning against excessive speculation on the divine essence before proper preparation, lest the soul be blinded (Prov 25:27: \"He that is a searcher of majesty shall be overwhelmed by glory\"). Philo Carpathius: the eyes of Christ = purity of faith, which moves and almost \"overcomes\" God with love.

Capilli tui sicut grex caprarum quae ascenderunt de Galaad

Thy hair is as a flock of goats that come up from Galaad. See commentary on Sg 4:1 (same verse repeated). The hair = the religious — monks, virgins, and those who have renounced the world and mortified earthly affections (as the hair has no life-sensation). They ascend from Galaad = from the heap of testimony (Jacob's pile of stones), typifying those who have witnessed their consecration to God by profession of vows, ascending from earthly testimonies to the heights of Carmel (the vineyard of God). Ambrose (Serm. 4 on Ps. 118): these \"capillae\" are the company of souls gathered in the Church who bear no superfluous element, purified by faith of all the dross of worldly wisdom. Rupert: the capillae = the band of holy souls who, like Elijah in Galaad, withdrew from the crowd into the mountains of contemplation.

Sicut cortex mali punici ita genae tuae absque occultis tuis

Thy cheeks are as the bark of a pomegranate, beside that which lieth hid within. Repetition of the pomegranate-cheeks image (cf. Sg 4:3). The emphasis here is on the hidden beauty exceeding the exterior. The Church's modesty and interior grace surpass what is externally visible. Specifically in this context (after the praise of Church's forces in v. 4): the Church is both formidable externally (terrible as an army) and inwardly modest and gracious. The cheeks = (1) the blush of modesty in virgins, the special glory of the Church; (2) the reverence and humility of the Church's ministers, who bear no pride or display despite their dignity; (3) the hidden inner life of grace that surpasses all outward forms. Nyssenus: the pomegranate's cortex (bark/peel) hides multitudes of grains; so the Church's outward appearance conceals the infinitely richer interior life of her saints.

Sexaginta sunt reginae et octoginta concubinae et adulescentularum non est numerus

There are threescore queens, and fourscore concubines, and young maidens without number. Three classes of dignity in the Church: (1) Queens (sixty) = the great patriarchal and metropolitan churches (Cassiodorus, Gregory, Philo); (2) Concubines (eighty) = the episcopal churches subordinate to the metropolises; (3) Young maidens without number = the countless parochial and smaller churches. Above all of these stands the Roman Church as the \"one dove\" (v. 9) = the unique, perfect, and supreme Spouse of Christ. Alternatively: queens = souls who have reached perfection and live by the counsels of perfection (Guilielmus); concubines = those who observe only the commandments; young maidens = those still growing in virtue. The Roman Church's primacy as \"una columba\" = she alone is without rival as the one true Spouse, the principle of unity for all others.

Una est columba mea perfecta mea una est matris suae electa genitrici suae

One is my dove, my perfect one, the only one of her mother, the chosen of her that bore her. The unique dove = the Roman Church, the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church of Christ, whose unity and perfection distinguish her from all sects and schisms. \"Una\" = numerically one; \"perfecta\" = complete in all the marks of the true Church; \"electa genitrici suae\" = beloved beyond all others by her mother (the primitive Church of Jerusalem). This verse is the classic text for the unity and primacy of the Roman Church. The other queens, concubines, and maidens praised her = all the other Churches look to Rome as the center of their unity and the guarantee of their orthodoxy. Cassiodorus, Gregory, Philo, Thomas: the single dove = the Church under the Roman Pontiff, which guards the faith as the one true Bride of Christ against the multiplicity of sects. Anselm: when the daughters saw her they blessed her; all the orthodox recognized the Roman Church's singular beauty and primacy.

Quae est ista quae progreditur quasi aurora consurgens pulchra ut luna electa ut sol terribilis ut acies ordinata

Who is she that cometh forth as the morning rising, fair as the moon, bright as the sun, and terrible as an army set in array? The Church or the Synagogue converted at the end of time described by the admiring spectators. Three rising states: (1) As the rising dawn = the Church of the Gentiles in her historical emergence (first dim, then brilliant); (2) Fair as the moon = the Church in her present state, reflecting the light of Christ (the Sun) faithfully but not yet in the fullness of direct vision; (3) Bright as the sun = the Church in glory, at the end of time or in the beatific vision, when she will shine with the fullness of divine light. \"Terrible as an army\" = as before (Sg 6:4), the Church's disciplined power against all enemies. Historically: this describes the final conversion of the Jews and the great last flowering of the Church under Elijah. The dawn progressively increasing = the Church's gradual growth in the world until the full midday of glory.

Descendi in hortum nucum ut viderem poma convallis et inspicerem si floruisset vinea et germinassent mala punica

I went down into the garden of nuts, to see the fruits of the valleys, and to look if the vineyard had flourished and if the pomegranates had budded. The Bride descends into the garden of nuts = the soul humbles herself into the difficult work of discernment and active apostolate among souls that are hard on the outside (like nuts) but contain spiritual substance within. The valleys = the humble and abject, who bear the most spiritual fruit. Two principal interpretations: (1) The Bride (Church, or its pastors) examines the state of souls and churches to see if they are flourishing; (2) The Bride descends from contemplation to the active apostolate. The vineyard and pomegranate = the Church's spiritual life and charity. The nuts = the Synagogue/Jews, whose exterior hardness (rejection of Christ) conceals an interior that can bear fruit when properly cracked open by the truth. Cassiodorus: the church descends to visit her own condition and see if virtue flourishes.

Nescivi: anima mea conturbavit me propter quadrigas Aminadab

I knew not: my soul troubled me for the chariots of Aminadab. The voice of the newly-converted Synagogue confessing why she delayed in believing: \"I did not know\" — her soul was troubled (distracted, confused) by the chariots of Aminadab (= the glorious history of Israel, the victories of God, the privileges of the Jewish people, all of which seemed to argue against the Messianic claims of Christ, who came in humility). Two interpretations: (1) Aminadab = the spontaneous, princely people (Hebrew: \"am-nadib\" = the willing/noble people), i.e., the Gentiles who voluntarily accepted Christianity, causing the Jews to be confused by seeing their divine privilege seemingly transferred; (2) The chariots = the Law of Moses, the Kingdom of Israel, the miraculous history of the Exodus — all of which the Jews clung to in preference to Christ. Gregory, Cassiodorus, Bede, Julius, Rupert: the Synagogue explains her unbelief as caused by attachment to the external glories of the Mosaic dispensation.