Commitment to vigilance

38. We must always be vigilant and watchful, because the Word of God leaps like a gazelle or a deer (Song of Songs 2:9). It is fitting for the soul that seeks Him and longs to possess Him to be constantly vigilant and to maintain its means of defense. “By night upon my bed I sought him whom my soul loves” (Song of Songs 3:1), as if he were creeping into it.

He who seeks diligently must seek in his bed, seek in the evening, so that he has no nights or holidays, and his time is not without good service. And if he does not find Him at first, let him persevere in searching for Him. Therefore the soul says: “I will arise, and go about the city, in the streets, and in the broadways” (Song 3:2). Perhaps it will not find Him now, because it has searched for Him in public places where there are lawsuits and judgments, and in the streets and marketplaces, where there are goods for sale, for Christ cannot be acquired by any amount of money.

Where does the soul find its groom?

Saint Ambrose believes that the believing soul finds its bridegroom, the Lord Christ, in the following places:

• A. In the public places of the city: where the oil of grace is offered freely to all, and where the faithful drink from the living springs in the streets.
• B. Within the soul, as it is the city walled by Christ and inhabited at the same time.
• C. In the Church, the heavenly Jerusalem, where the word of true teaching and the spirit of worship are.]

39. We can also interpret the phrase as follows: The soul that seeks Christ on its bed, that is, seeks Him in quietness and peace, seeks Him by night, for He spoke in parables (as in the darkness of the night) (Matt. 13:13; Ezek. 21:5). “He made darkness His cover” (Ps. 18:11), and “night unto night reveals knowledge” (Ps. 18:11). And also “for what we say in our heart we repent of on our beds” (Ps. 4:4). But it does not find Him by this means, so it says: “I will arise,” that is, I will arise and redouble my efforts, to seek Him relentlessly, I will search for Him carefully, I will enter the city (That is, it enters its depths as the city of God.). The soul says: “I am a strong city, a walled city” (Isa. 27:3LXX). It is the city walled by Christ; the city is Heavenly Jerusalem (Heb 12:22) In which there are interpreters of the law of God and men skilled in teaching in great abundance, through whom one seeks the word of God.

I wander In public places of the city“That is, in the squares where lawyers practice the law, and where the oil is sold, which the wise virgins of the Gospel buy (Matt. 25:8-9) so that their lamps may always shine, and the smoke of iniquity not extinguish them.

I walk through the streets where the water gushes from those springs, which Solomon says man should drink from.

Let's look beyond the angels

40. While the soul seeks Christ, it finds the guards who are at his service (Song 3:3); but the soul that seeks God also goes beyond the guards, it seeks the secrets that even the angels desire to know. In this regard Peter says: “Which have now been made known to you by those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven, which the angels desire to know” (1 Pet 1:12). The man who goes beyond the guards finds the Word. John went beyond and found the Word with the Father (Jn 1:1).

Christ is present in the distress of his believers

41. There are many who seek Christ in their luxury and do not find Him, but they find Him in persecutions, and they find Him quickly… because He is present in the troubles of His believers. The soul says: “I had not passed them but a little while, when I found him whom my soul loves; and I held him and would not let him go” (Song of Songs 3:4 LXX), because he who seeks finds (Matt. 7:8), and he who finds should remain close to Him so that he does not lose Him.

Christ is not in the grave!

42. Since we see the heavenly mysteries symbolically represented on earth through the Gospel, let us come to Mary Magdalene and the other Mary (Mt 28:1; Lk 24:3, 10). Let us consider how they sought Christ by night in the bed (bedding) of his body, on which he lay dead, when the angel said to them: “You seek Jesus who was crucified; he is not here, for he has risen… Why do you seek the living among the dead?” (Mt 28:5-6; Lk 24:5). Why do you seek in the tomb the One who is now in heaven? Why do you seek in the chains of the tomb the One who will free all from their bonds? His dwelling place is not the tomb, but heaven! That is why one of them says: “I sought him, but I did not find him” (Song 3:1).

Hold on to it, O soul, with faith!

43. When they went to tell the apostles, Jesus had compassion on those who sought him, and met them and said to them: “Peace!” They rose up and took hold of his feet tightly and worshiped him (Mt 28:9). Jesus holds fast, and he is pleased to do so, to hold fast by faith. The woman who touched him also made him happy, and she was healed of her bleeding; he said of her: “Someone touched me, for I perceive that power has gone out from me” (Lk 8:46).

Touch it and hold it with the power of faith.

Hold him firmly by his feet in faith, and strength will come out of him and your souls will be healed.

Even though he says, “Do not touch me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father” (John 20:17). Hold him tightly! He only says once: “Do not touch me!”

At the time of his resurrection… he said it to those who thought he was robbed and did not rise by his own power! But you read in another Gospel that he said to the women who were holding his feet tightly and worshipping him: “Do not be afraid” (Matthew 28:10).

Hold him firmly, O soul, as Mary (Magdalene) did, and say: “I held him and did not let him go,” and as the two women also said: “We hold you firmly.”

Go to the Father, but do not leave Eve behind, lest you fall again! Take her with you, for she is no longer wandering about, but is firmly holding on to the tree of life. Hold her, and she will cling to your feet and ascend with you. Do not let me go, lest the serpent breathe out his venom again, and try to bite the woman’s foot and cause Adam to fall (Gen. 3:5).

Let yourself say: “So I held him and would not let him go until I had brought him into my mother’s house and into the chamber of her who conceived me” (Song of Songs 3:4, 8:2).

To know your secrets and learn from your teachings.

Take Eve, not covered with fig leaves (Gen. 3:7), but clothed with the Holy Spirit and glorified with new grace. Therefore she does not hide herself as one who is naked (Gen. 3:8-13), but comes to meet you clothed in a bright and shining garment, grace being her garment. This is as Adam was at the beginning, who was not naked because he was clothed with innocence.

Stick to Him and ascend with Him through pious prayers and mortification

44. The daughters of Jerusalem see her (Song 3:5) clinging to Christ and still ascending with Him, as He accepts to meet those who seek Him and answers them to lift them up; and they say: “Who is this that comes up from the wilderness?” (Song 3:6), for this land appears to be a barren wilderness. It is filled with the thorns and thistles of our sins. They marvel at how a soul that was once abandoned in hell clings to the word of God and rises like a branch of the vine that rises to the high places or like smoke from the fire that seeks the heights, fragrant with sweet spices. Behold, the fragrance of a devout and sweet prayer rises like incense before God. We read in the Revelation that “the smoke of the incense ascended with the prayers of the saints” (Rev 8:4; Ps 141:2). And the incense – that is, the prayers of the saints – is offered by an angel “upon the golden altar that is before the throne” (Rev 8:3).

It is truly fragrant with the sweet oil of devout prayer, for the oil was prepared by prayers for the sake of unseen eternities, not for the sake of bodily things.

Moreover, the soul is perfumed with incense and myrrh (Song of Solomon 3:6), because it is dead to sin and alive to God (Romans 6:2, 11).

45. The daughters of Jerusalem see her ascending without hindrance, and rejoice at the fragrance of her good merits, knowing also that she is the bride of Solomon the peacemaker. Therefore they follow her in a loyal procession to the bed of Solomon (Song 3:7), because the true rest befitting her is in Christ, who is the bed of the saints, in whom the hearts of all who are burdened with the wars of the world rest. On this bed Isaac rested, and blessed his younger son (Gen. 27:27), saying, “The elder shall serve the younger” (Gen. 25:23). And Jacob, reclining on this bed, blessed the twelve patriarchs (Gen. 48:2, 49). And by lying on this bed the daughter of the chief of the synagogue rose from the dead (Ps. 5:35-43). And by lying on that bed the dead widow’s son broke the chains of death when the voice of Christ called him (Lk. 7:11-17).

Enjoy the song of marital love

46. When the bride was led to her place of rest at her wedding, the daughters of Jerusalem sang her the wedding song and expressed their love: “Go out, see King Solomon with the crown with which his mother crowned him on his wedding day” (Song 3:10-11). They sing the wedding song and call upon the other heavenly powers or souls to see the love of Christ toward the daughters of Jerusalem (Song 3:11). In this way he deserved to be crowned by his mother, as a loving son, and as Paul explains: “He delivered us from the power of darkness and transferred us into the kingdom of his loving Son” (Col 1:13). He is therefore the son of love and he is love. He does not acquire love by chance, but he possesses it in his essence…

It is said: “Come out,” that is, “come out from the confines of the body,” come out from the vanities of the world, and see how the King of Peace carries love on his wedding day, how he is filled with glory, as he gives resurrection to the body and unites the soul to it (to Christ). This is the crown of the great struggle. This is the wonderful gift of Christ’s marriage: his blood and his sufferings! What more can be given? He did not spare himself, but gave himself up in death for us (Rom 8:32).

Settle with the heavenly bridegroom

47. When the Lord Jesus Himself rejoices in the faith, confession, and grace of this soul, He commends its worthiness, and invites it to draw near to Him, saying: “Come with me from Lebanon, my bride; come with me from Lebanon, you will come. Yes, come safely from the fountainhead which is faith, from the top of Shir and Hermon, from the lions’ lairs, from the mountains of the leopards” (Song of Songs 4:8 LXX). That is, come out of the body, and strip yourself of it completely, for you cannot be with me unless you come out of the body, because those who are in the body are absent from the kingdom of God (2 Corinthians 5:8).

“Come… come.” The repetition here is good, because whether you are present (in the body) or absent (from it), you are required to dwell with the Lord your God and to please Him. Come when you are present, and come when you are absent, while you are still in the body, because for me all of you whose faith is with me are present.

He is with me, the one who goes out of the world.

He is present with me, he who is absent from himself.

He who denies himself is a dweller with me (Psalm 8:34).

He is with me who is not within himself, because he who is in the flesh is not in the spirit.

He is with me who goes beyond himself.

He who is outside of himself approaches me.

He is entirely mine who lost his life for me (Matt. 10:39).

Come, come, my bride. You will come safely, come safely from the source which is faith. She comes, yes, she comes safely from the earth, she comes safely as she comes to Christ. She comes with the merit of faith, and the glory of works that shine like cherubim and harpoon, that is, she comes in the way of light, having overcome the temptations of the world, and vanquished the spirits of evil (Eph. 6:12). She seeks the crown of lawful struggle and is worthy to be praised by Christ the Judge.

Your groom praises your purity

48. “You are an enclosed garden, my sister, my bride, an enclosed garden, a sealed fountain, your plants a paradise of pomegranates, with fruit trees and fragrant plants” (Song of Songs 4:12-13 LXX).

The bride is praised because she is a garden, with within her the fragrance of a fruitful field, of which Isaac says: “The fragrance of my son is like the fragrance of a blessed (fruitful) field” (Gen. 27:27). The righteous soul gains the fragrance of righteousness…

Paradise is closed so that harmful animals do not invade the soul, and the spring is sealed so that its sins are washed away by the perfection of the seal (the seal of baptism) and by its steadfastness in faith.

The fountain which springs from the Church bears what is attributed to the grace of virginity. It is rightly called a sealed fountain, because the image of the invisible God (Col. 1:15) is represented in it.

There is also praise for the soul which the Bridegroom sends forth and comes clothed in it. The gifts of the pious soul are the sweet spices of myrrh and saffron which waft in the beautiful gardens and which remove the stench of sins.

Your groom asks for your fruit

49. Not disturbed by this great announcement, she asks the violent north wind to calm down so that it does not destroy the flowers, and for the south wind to blow, that is, she wants winter to end and the breezes of a gentler season, spring, to come (Song of Songs 4:16, 2:11). […..]

She invites her Bridegroom into her garden (Song 4:16), to come down and rejoice in the variety of her fruits, to rejoice when he finds food stronger and sweeter. There is a kind of bread of the word and honey, there is a speech more fervent and convincing. There is a faith that gives more warmth than wine, and more purity that tastes like milk. Christ in us feeds on this food and drinks of this drink.

He asks us for intoxicating wine, with which we depart from worldly matters to what is better.