Chapter 3

THE Bridegroom has not returned at the voice and according to the prayer of her who is recalling Him. Wherefore ? It is that the yearning for Him may increase, that the affection may be proved, that the faculty of love may be exercised. It is not indignation, then, that actuates Him, but a concealment of love. But since, when called, He has not come, it remains that He should be sought, if, haply, He may be found. According to the words of the Lord, He that seeketh findeth ( Matt. vii. 8). The words used to recall Him were, as you remember, such as these : Return, my Beloved, and be Thou like a roe or a young hart. When the WORD did not return at this call, for the reasons above given, the loving Bride became still more desirous of His presence, and set herself with increased earnestness to the task of seeking Him. First, she seeks Him on her bed, but finds Him not. Then she rises, makes a circuit of the city, goes and comes through the streets and squares, but she neither meets Him nor beholds Him at a distance. She questions those whom she meets, but learns no assured tidings of Him. It is not through one street only, or during one night, that she continues this search, and experiences this failure ; for she says, ' I sought Him by night (per noctes).' What desire, and what ardour must she feel, that she does not blush to rise and appear in the night, to traverse the city, to interrogate openly and repeatedly all those she meets about her Beloved, not to be turned by any reason from following His footsteps, nor daunted by any difficulty; not to be held back by the love of ease and repose, by the sensitive modesty of a bride, nor by the terrors of the night ! And, notwithstanding all this, the object of her wishes has not as yet been attained. Why is this ? What can be the cause of a withdrawal so obstinate and so prolonged, which nourishes weariness, causes suspicions, is as a torch to enkindle impatience, as a stepmother to love, but a mother to desperation ? If it is still a concealment of love on the part of the Bridegroom, that concealment is but too painful.

2. Granted that such concealment was useful and even kind in the meantime, until the Bride had set herself seriously to call upon Him, or to recall. But now, when she is thus seeking Him and calling for Him, what can be the object of any longer concealment ? If the question here were of carnal spouses and of dishonourable loves, as the literal sense of the text seems at first to suggest, and such incidents should occur in them, I leave such matters to those whom they concern, for they do not concern me. But if it is my duty to respond to, and to satisfy, as far as my poor powers extend, the wishes and the needs of souls that seek the Lord, I ought to draw from the Holy Scripture, in which they trust that they have the word of life, something spiritual and life-giving, that they who are the poor of Christ may eat and may be satisfied, and that their hearts may find life. And what is the life of human hearts but my Lord Jesus Christ, of whom one who lived in Him said : When Christ, who is our Life, shall appear, then shallye also appear with Him in glory (Col. iii. 4) ? Let Him come, then, into the midst of us, so that it may be possible to say truly to us also : There standeth One among you whom ye know not ( John i. 26). Though I do not know how the Bridegroom, who is Spirit, can fail to be recognised by spiritual men, who have made such progress in the life of the spirit, as to be able to say with the Prophet, The Anointed of the Lord is a Spirit before our face ( Lam. iv. 20) ; and with the Apostle, Though we have known Christ after theflesh, yet now henceforth know we Him no more (2 Cor. v. 16). Is it not He whom the Bride was seeking ? He is, in truth, the Bridegroom, both loving and lovable. He is, I say, the Bridegroom, as His Flesh is meat indeed, and His Blood drink indeed ( John vi. 56) ; and all that He is He is in truth, for He is Himself no other than the Truth.

3. But why is it that this Bridegroom is not found when He is sought, especially when sought with so great and unwearied care, now on the couch, now in the city, or even in the streets and open places ? Does not He Himself say, Seek, andye shallfind; and, Hewho seeketh findeth ( Matt. vii. 7, 8) ? To Him also speaks a Prophet : The Lord is good to the soul that seeketh Him (Lam. iii. 25) ; and also holy Isaiah saith, Seek ye the Lord, while He may be found (Is. lv. 6). How, then, shall the Scriptures be accomplished ? For she who here seeks the Lord is not of those to whom He says : Ye shall seek Me, and GOD IS TO BE SOUGHT IN DUE TIME, shall notfind Me (John vii. 34). But take note of three causes which occur to me, wherefore seekers are wont to be hindered in finding Him, namely, that they seek Him either not at the fitting time, or not in the fitting manner, or not in the fitting place. For if every time is proper to seek Him, why does the Prophet say : Seek ye the Lord, while He may be found ? There will, then, without doubt, be a time when He may not be found, and therefore he adds, Call upon Him while He is near, because it will come to pass that He will not be near. By whom will He not be sought then ? Unto Me, He saith, every knee shall bow ( Is. xlv. 24) . And yet He shall not be found by the wicked, whom the avenging Angels shall hinder from finding Him, and shall take them away, that they may not behold the glory of God. The foolish virgins shall complain, but to no purpose ; for the door is shut, and He shall not go forth to them (Matt. xxv. 10). Let them take for themselves that which is said : Ye shall seek Me, and shall notfind Me.

4. But now is the acceptable (acceptabile) time, now is the day of salvation ( 2 Cor. vi. 2) ; it is the time of seeking, and of calling upon, the Lord ; for oftentimes, even before He is called, He is felt to be near. Hear, in fact, what He promises. Before they call, He says , I will answer (Is. lxv. 24). Nor does the Psalmist speak less decisively as to the acceptableness of the time present, for he says : Lord, Thou hast heard the desire of the humble : Thou wilt prepare their heart, Thou wilt cause Thine ear to hear (Ps. x. 17). If God is being sought by good works, then, while we have time, let us do good unto all men (Gal. vi. 10), especially since the Lord plainly warns us that the night cometh, when no man can work (John ix. 4). Do you expect to find in the ages to come some other time to seek God, some other opportunity to do that which is right, besides that which God has appointed for you, and in which He will be mindful ofyou ? And, therefore, this is the day of salvation, because it is in it that God, who is our King before all the ages, has worked salvation in the midst of the earth (Ps. lxxxiv. 12).

5. Go, then, and await in the midst of hell the salvation which is already worked in the midst of the earth.1 What profit will be to you those dreams of pardon, among the everlasting fires, when the season for pity shall have passed ? There is no victim left to atone for your sins, when you shall be dead in sins. The Son of God is not crucified a second time : once He died, and now He dieth no more (Rom. vi. 9) . His Blood, which was poured out upon the earth, does not descend into hell. All the sinners of the earth have drunk of it ; there is none left for the demons to claim, that the flames which prey upon them may be quenched ; nor for men who are the companions of demons. The Soul of the Saviour once descended into that place, but not His Blood ; and this was the portion of those spirits who were in prison ( 1 Peter iii . 19). That was His one visitation to them, which was made then by the presence of His Soul, while His Body hung lifeless upon the Cross, on the earth. His Blood watered the earth, steeped it and made it glad ; His Blood reestablished peace on the earth, and also in the heavens ; but hell had no part in that reconciliation, The Soul of the Saviour, as I have said, descended there once, and there worked redemption in part ; so that it was not even that brief time without works of charity, but to that He will add nothing. It is now, then, a fit and acceptable time to seek Him, in which he who seeks shall evidently find Him; if, that is to say, he seeks in the fitting manner, and place. For this is one cause which hinders those who seek the Bridegroom from finding Him ; namely, that they do not seek at a fitting time. But this does not hinder the Bride, since she seeks Him and calls upon Him at the time which is fit. She seeks Him also neither with lukewarmness nor negligence, nor in a perfunctory manner, for she seeks Him with ardent and untiring earnestness, as she evidently ought to do.

6. There remains, then, the third obstacle, namely, that He is sought for in an unsuitable place. On my little bed (lectulo) Isought Him whom my soul loveth. But perhaps He for whom the whole world is too narrow should not be sought upon a ' little ' bed, but upon a bed ? Nevertheless, the little bed does not displease me, for I know that the Saviour was made a little Child. Cry out and shout, thou inhabitant of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel in the midst of thee (Is. xii. 6). But the same Lord, who is great in Zion, is found among us little, and weak ; He has need to lie down, and even upon a bed that is little. Is not His tomb a little bed ? or His cradle ? or the womb of His VirginMother ? For the Bosom of His Father, who is so great, is not little, but great ; and of it He speaks to the Son : From the womb, before the Daystar, I begot Thee (Ps. cx. 3, Douay). Though perhaps it may be thought more worthily that this womb is not a bed, and for rest, but a throne, and for rule. For abiding in the Father, He rules all things with the Father. Finally, faith undoubted teaches us that He does not recline, but sits, at the Right Hand of the Father; that Heaven is His throne, not His couch (Is. lxvi. 1), so that you may learn that among his own, that is, among the dwellers in heaven, He has the ensigns of power, not the solaces of weakness.

7. Rightly, then, does the Bride, when speaking of a little bed, call it hers ; for it is manifest that whatever of weakness may appear in God [our Saviour] is not proper and natural to Him, but comes from us. He has taken from us all that He has suffered on our behalf : to be born, to be nourished with milk, to die, to be buried. The mortality of His Birth comes from me, the weakness of His Childhood comes from me, the pains of His Crucifixion, and His 1 Thus the MSS. and earliest editions, except that some MSS. have pietatis for charitatis. GOD IS TO BE SOUGHT IN DUE TIME, sleep in death come all from me. The former things have passed away, and behold ! all things have become new. By night on my bed Isought Him whom my soul loveth. What ! did you seek Him in that which is yours, who had already been received again into that which is His own ? Had you not seen the Son of Man ascending up where He was before ? In exchange for the stable, in exchange for the Tomb, He has taken possession of Heaven ; and you seek Him still in your little bed ? He is Risen ; He is not here. Why do you seek in a bed Him who is strong, in a little bed Him who is great, in a stable Him who is pure and spotless ? He has entered into [the exercise of] the powers of the Lord ; He is clothed with beauty and with strength ; and, behold, He who once lay under the stone of a sepulchre, now is enthroned above the Cherubim. He no longer reclines, He is sitting ; and are you preparing for Him the comforts, as it were, of one who lies prone ? To speak quite accurately, He is either seated to judge, or standing to help us.

8. For whom, then, I pray you, O holy women, do ye keep vigil ? For whom do ye buy perfumes and make provision of fragrant oils ? If ye knew how great He is, how free among the dead is that dead Man whom ye are going to anoint, you would perhaps petition that He should rather drop perfumes upon you. Is it not He whom His God hath anointed with the oil of gladness above His fellows ? (Ps . xlv. 7) . Blessed shall ye be if, when returning, you are able to make your boast, and say : OfHisfulness have all we received ( John i. 16). For it was in fact thus ; and those holy women who had gone to anoint Him returned anointed themselves. How could they be otherwise than, as it were, anointed by the joyful and fragrant news of His Resurrection ? How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace and bring glad tidings of good things ! (Rom. x. 15). When sent by the Angel, they do the work of an Evangelist ; they are made apostles to the Apostles themselves, and while hastening in the early morning to announce the mercy of the Lord, they say : ' We run in the fragrance of Thy perfumes. ' From that time and thenceforth it was in vain that the Bridegroom was sought in that little bed, because, although the Church had known Him according to the flesh, that is, according to the weakness of the flesh, yet henceforth it knows Him [thus] no more. It is true that He was sought in this manner by Peter and John at the sepulchre, but they found Him not. you see with what singular fitness and suitableness each of them would be able to say : In my bed I sought Him whom my soul loveth : I sought Him, but Ifound Him not. For the Flesh of the Son of God, which was not of the Father, before going to the Father, put off, through the glory of the Resurrection, every trace of weakness ; it was girded about with power, it was clad with light as it were with a garment, and adorned with all the glory and beauty which was befitting it, to present itself before the Father. Do

9. With great beauty also does the Bride say, not ' Him whom I love,' but ' Him whom my soul loveth, ' because that affection belongs truly and properly to the soul alone, with which anything spiritual is loved : as, for example, God, or an Angel, or a soul similar to itself. Of the same kind also is the love of righteousness, truth, piety, wisdom, and other virtues. For when a soul loves, or rather desires, somewhat according to the flesh, for example, food, clothing, property, or other things corporeal or earthly of that kind, that love should be considered as belonging rather to the flesh than to the soul. I say this to explain what the Bride says, in a manner somewhat unusual, though none the less appropriate, that her soul loves the Bridegroom, indicating clearly by this that He is a spirit, and is loved by her with an affection not carnal, but spiritual. So, also, it is well said that she has sought Him each night. For if, according to the Apostle, they that sleep, sleep in the night, and they that be drunken are drunken in the night ( 1 Thess. v. 7), so it may, as I think, be not unfitly said that those who are ignorant of the truth are so in the night, and, in consequence, those who seek it seek it in the night. For who seeks that of which he has possession openly ? Now, the day makes manifest that which the night conceals, so that in the day you may find what in the night you had sought. It is, then, night for the soul as long as the Bridegroom is being sought, for if it were day He would be plainly seen in the midst, and would not be sought at all. And that is sufficient on this subject, except for the observation that though the Bride says she seeks Him not ' by night, ' but ' by nights, ' nothing is signified by the mere number.

10. It seems to me, however, if you have no better cause to suggest, that the reason may be something of this kind. That world has its nights, and they are many. What do I say ? Not only has it nights, but it is itself almost an entire night, and is enveloped wholly in shadows. The unbelief of the Jews is a night ; the ignorance of the Heathen, the obstinate error of heretics, even the carnal and animal mode of living of Catholics, each of these is a night. Is it not a darkness as of night when the things which are of the Spirit of God are not even perceived ? So, also, as many sects as there are of heretics and schismatics, so many nights are there. To no purpose do you seek the Sun of Righteousness and the light of Truth, that is, the Bridegroom, through the gloom of these nights, for light hath no fellowship with darkness. But someone objects that the Bride is not so blind, nor so foolish, as to seek light in the darkness, or to expect to find her Beloved among those who know Him not nor love Him. What she says is, not that she is seeking Him now, but that she has sought Him ; not ' I am seeking, but By night I sought Him whom my soul loveth. And the meaning of these words is that when she was young she had but the thoughts and sentiments proportioned to the weakness of her age ; that she sought the truth where it was not, wandering and not finding it, according as it is said in a Psalm : Ihave gone astray like a lost sheep (Ps. cxix. 176). In fact, she states that she was still, as it were, in a little bed, because she was of immature age and undeveloped intelligence. GOD IS TO BE SOUGHT IN DUE TIME,

11. But if that sense of the words be accepted, then the phrase ' on my bed ' must be understood as if it were said ' being or reclining, ' not, that is to say, ' I have sought on my bed,' but ' being on my bed I have sought ' ; that is, ' While I was still weak and incompetent, altogether unfitted to follow the Lamb whithersoever He should go, or to pursue the steep and arduous paths by which He ascended to the height of glory, I fell among many persons who, knowing my earnest desire, said to me : Lo, here is Christ, or Lo, He is there (Mark xiii. 21 ), and He was neither in the one place nor the other. Nevertheless, I do not regret to have fallen among them. For the more nearly I approached them and the more diligently I examined them, the more assured I became that the truth was not in them. For I sought it and did not find it, and what they falsely called day proved to be in truth but night.

12. Then I said in myself : Iwill rise now and go about the city : in the streets and in the broad ways Iwill seek Him whom my soul loveth. Now, you will observe that she must be reclining who says, Iwill rise. And this is said with much fitness, for how can she do otherwise than rise when she has heard of the Resurrection of her Beloved ? But if thou, O blessed one, art risen with Christ, it behoves thee to seek those things which are above, and not to seek Christ here below, but to seek Him on high, where He sitteth at the Right Hand of the Father (Col. iii. 1). But she says : I will go about the city. To what purpose ? For it is the wicked who do that. Leave that to the Jews, of whom their own Psalmist predicted : They shall suffer hunger like dogs, and shall go round about the city (Ps. lix. 7, Douay). If you shall enter into the city, then, according to another prophet, behold them that are sick with famine (Jer. xiv. 18), which doubtless would not have been the case if there had been in them the bread of life. He has arisen from the heart of the earth, but He has not remained upon the earth, for He has ascended up where He was before. For He who descended is the same who also ascended, the Living Bread who came down from heaven, the Bridegroom of the Church, JESUS Christ our Lord, who is above all, God blessed for ever. AMEN.

SHE thinks still as a child. I believe that she has supposed that immediately He came forth from the tomb, He presented Himself in public to teach the people as He was wont, and heal the sick, and thus to show forth His glory in Israel, to see if they would receive Him rising from the dead, who promised that they would receive Him if He would come down from the Cross. But He had finished the work which the Father had given Him to do : which she ought to have understood, indeed, from the words which He had spoken when hanging on the Cross, and about to give up His spirit (John xix. 30) : It is finished. It was not for Him to show Himself anew to the masses of the people, who would not perhaps even thus have believed in Him. And He hastened to His Father, who would say to Him : Sit Thou at My Right Hand, until I make Thine enemies Thyfootstool (Ps. cx. 1 ). For when He should have been lifted up from the earth, He would draw all things unto Him more powerfully as well as more Divinely. But she, in thinking that He was to be sought in the streets and open spaces, was influenced by an eager desire to enjoy His presence, and did not know that mystery ; therefore, when having again failed, she repeats : I sought Him, but Ifound Him not (iii. 2), that the word might be fulfilled which He spake : Ye shall not see Me because Igo to the Father (John xvi. 16) .

2. But perhaps the sense of her words is this : ' How shall they believe in Him whom they will not behold ?' As if faith cometh from sight, and not rather by hearing ! What marvel is it that you should believe that which you have seen ? and what praise does it deserve not to disbelieve one's own eyes ? But if we hope for that which we see not, we wait for it with patience ; and patience is a merit. Blessed are they who have not seen, and yet have believed ( John xx. 29). So, then, that He may not deprive her of the merit of faith, He withdraws Himself from sight, affording place for this virtue. Besides this, it is time now that He should betake Himself to His own place. You ask, What is His own place ? It is the Right Hand of the Father. For as He is in the Form of God, He will think it not robbery to be equal with God ( Phil. ii. 6). The place, then, of the Only Begotten is one in which He is out of the reach of every kind of outrage. There, indeed, let Him sit, not below the Father, but beside Him, that all may honour the Son even as they honour the Father. In this shall appear His equality of dignity, if He is considered neither inferior nor posterior, to the Father. But the Bride has, in the meantime, regard to none of these things ; she is, as it were, inebriated by her affection ; she runs hither and thither, and seeks with her eyes for Him who is not now discernible by the eyes, but by faith. She does not think that Christ ought otherwise to enter into His glory than as having previously manifested the glory of His Resurrection openly to all the world, that impiety may be thereby confuted, the faithful made to rejoice, the disciples to glory, the peoples to be converted ; so that after His Presence and His Resurrection shall have shown clearly the truth of His predictions, He shall at length be glorified by all. But you deceive yourself, O Bride. All these things must needs be fulfilled, indeed ; but in their due time.

3. But now, in the meantime, see if it be not more in agreement with the supreme Righteousness, and more worthy of it, not to give that which is holy to dogs, nor to cast pearls before swine ; if, according to the Scripture, the wicked should rather be taken away, and not behold the glory of God (Is. xxvi. 10) ; if faith should be not deprived of its merit, since that is assuredly more displayed and approved in believing that which is not seen ; if thus that which is hidden from the unworthy is reserved for those who are worthy of it ; if those who are filthy are filthy still, and those who are righteous become still more so ( Rev. xxii. 11 ) if they do not sleep through weariness. Let the heavens and the heavens of heavens pass away and be confounded in their expectation rather than that the Almighty Father should be longer hindered from attaining the desire of His Heart, or the Only Begotten Son delayed longer (which would be a consummation in the highest degree unworthy) from entering into His glory. What is all the glory of mortals, thinkest thou, however great it may be, to be able to detain Him, for ever so small a time, from that glory which has been prepared by His Father from all eternity ? Add to this that it is not fitting that the petition of the Son Himself should wait longer for its fulfilment. Do you ask, What was that petition ? It was that in which He said : Father, glorify Thy Son (John xvii. 1). And yet I feel that He asked this, not as a suppliant, but as prescient of that which was to be. That is freely asked which it is in the power of Him who asks to receive. Therefore the request of the Son was the effect of providence, not of necessity, since He, with the Father, gives that which He from the Father receives .

4. It is proper here to remark that not only does the Father glorify the Son, but also the Son glorifies the Father ; so that no one should say that the Son is less than the Father as receiving glory from the Father, inasmuch as He also glorifies the Father. For He Himself says : Father, glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son also may glorify Thee. But perhaps you still think that the Son should be considered inferior to the Father, because He seems, as if less glorious, to receive the glory of the Father, which He renders to the Father again. But hear that it is not so, for He says : O Father, glorify Thou Me with Thine own Self with the glory which Ihad with Thee before the world was (John xvii. 5). If, then, the glory of the Son is not later than that of the Father, since it exists from eternity, it is plain that the Father and the Son are equally glorified. This being so, where is the Primacy of the Father ? There is evidently Equality where there is Coeternity. And the Equality is to such a degree that the glory of Both is but one glory, as They Themselves are One. On that account, as it seems to me, it was that He says again : Father, glorify Thy Name ; and in so doing requests, in fact, nothing else than to be glorified Himself, since it is, beyond doubt, in Him, and through Him, that the Name of the Father would be glorified; and He received a reply from the Father : Ihave both glorified it, and Iwill glorify it again ( John xii. 28). And this reply of the Father is in itself no small glorifying of the Son. But He was glorified more highly and more amply still at the stream of Jordan, both by the testimony of John the Baptist, the pointing Him out by the Dove, and by the Voice of the Father, who said : This is My Beloved Son (Matt. iii . 14, 16, 17). And, most of all, He was glorified and exalted on Mount Tabor before the three disciples, both by that same Voice which was heard from Heaven, and also by the wonderful and unexampled transfiguration of His Body, and the witness that was borne to Him by the two Prophets who appeared in the same place talking with Him (Matt. xvii. 2-5) .

5. It remains, then, that, according to the promise of the Father, He should be glorified yet once again, and that with the fulness of glory to which nothing more can be added. But where shall that glory be bestowed ? It will not be, as the Bride supposed, in the streets and open places, unless, perhaps, in those of whom it is said : The streets [of Jerusalem] shall be paved with white and clean stones : and Alleluia shall be sung in its streets (Tobit xiii. 22, Douay). For it is in those that the Son has received from the Father a glory so great that its equal cannot be found, even among the dwellers in heaven. For to which of the Angels said He at any time, Sit on My Right Hand? (Heb. i. 13). Not only among the Angels, but also in the loftiest orders of the Blessed, none is found fit to receive this glory which superexcels all things. To not one of them has that announcement of singular and exceptional glory been made, to not one of them has it been given to see it realized in himself. The Thrones, the Dominations, the Principalities, the Powers, desire, without doubt, to contemplate it in Him; but to compare themselves with Him they do not presume. It is, then, to my Lord only that it has been spoken, and upon Him only that it has been conferred by the Lord, that He should sit upon the Right Hand of His Glory as being coequal with Him in glory, Consubstantial in Essence, Like unto Him by Generation, not unequal in Majesty or in Eternity. It is there, it is there that he who seeks Him shall find, and shall behold His Glory : not glory as of one among others, but assuredly the glory as of the Only Begotten of the Father (John i . 14) .

6. What doest thou, then, O Bride ? Dost thou think that thou art able to follow Him thither ? Hast thou the ability or the boldness to introduce thyself into a secret so sacred, into a sanctuary so secret, as to contemplate the Son in the Father and the Father in the Son ? Assuredly not. Where He is thou canst not follow Him now, but thou shalt follow Him hereafter. Yet do not cease to strive ; seek Him, follow Him ; let not that supreme glory, that unapproachable elevation, deter thee from seeking, nor make thee despair of finding Him. If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth (Mark ix. 22). The word is nigh thee, it is said, in thy mouth, and in thy heart ( Rom. x. 8). Believe, and thou hast found [Him]. Those who are faithful know that Christ dwells in their hearts by faith (Eph. iii. 17), and what is nearer than this ? Seek, then, with confidence, seek with zeal. The Lord is good to the soul that seeketh Him ( Lam. iii. 25). Seek Him by your prayers, seek Him by your actions, find Him by your faith. What is there that faith does not find ? It attains that which was not reached, it discovers what is hidden, it comprehends what is unlimited, it apprehends the farthest depths ; it even contains, after a certain manner, in its comprehensive bosom, eternity itself. I say with confidence that the blessed and eternal Trinity, which I do not understand, I believe in, and thus hold by faith that which I do not grasp with the understanding.

7. But someone says : ' How shall she believe, without someone to instruct, since faith cometh by hearing, and hearing through the word of exhortation ( Rom. x. 14, 17) ?' For this God will provide. And see how they are already at hand who present themselves to instruct that new Bride, that soul who is to be united to a heavenly Bridegroom, in the truths that she needs to know ; to deliver to her the faith, to teach her the form of piety and of true religion. For listen to what she goes on to say : The watchmen that go about the city found me. Who are these watchmen ? They are those whom the Saviour pronounces blessed if He, when He shall come, shall find them watching (Luke xii. 37). How good are the sentinels who watch while we sleep, as if to give an account of our souls ! How good the guardians who are wakeful in spirit, and pass the night in prayer ; who seek out wisely the devices of the enemies, forestall the designs of the evil-disposed, lay bare their snares, escape their entanglements, shatter their nets, frustrate their plots ! These are lovers of the brethren and of the people of Christ, who pray much for the people and for all the Holy City. These are they who, being careful and anxious for the sheep entrusted to them by the Lord, bear them on their heart at their waking, when the day breaks, to the Lord who made them, and offer intercession for them in the presence of the Most High . And though they thus watch and thus intercede, they do it, as knowing their own insufficiency to keep the city safe, and being conscious that unless the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain (Ps. cxxvii. 1) .

8. In fact, when the Lord thus instructs us, Watch ye and pray, lestye enter into temptation ( Mark xiv. 38), it is plain that without this twofold exercise [of vigilance and prayer] by the faithful, and of sympathetic care on the part of the watchers, the city cannot be kept in safety, nor the Bride, nor the sheep. Do you inquire what is the difference between these ? They are but one and the same ; a city because it is an assembly of the faithful, a Bride because beloved, and a flock of sheep because of the kindness and care shown to it. Why is this Bride said to be a city ? Isaw ( it is said) the Holy City, new Jerusalem, coming downfrom God out ofHeaven, prepared as a Bride adornedfor her husband ( Rev. xxi. 2). It will plainly appear to you that the Bride is similarly called a flock, if you remember how earnestly the Saviour warned that first pastor (I mean St. Peter) to tend it with love when the sheep of it were for the first time committed to his charge. This that wise bestower of the trust ( creditor) would not have done with such great care if He had not felt, from the witness of His own inmost heart, that this was the Bride of which He was the Bridegroom. Take good heed of this, O friends of the Bridegroom, if you are in truth His friends. But I have said too little in calling you simply friends. For it behoves those upon whom is bestowed the privilege of such familiar intimacy to be the very closest and dearest of friends to Him. It was not without a significant purpose that, when confiding the care of His sheep to St. Peter, He repeated so frequently, Lovest thou Me ? (John xxi. 15-17). And I think that the significance of it was as if Jesus had said : ' If your conscience does not bear you witness that you love Me, that you love Me perfectly and entirely, that is to say, more than your own interests, more than your relatives, more even than your own self, so that the number of this threefold repetition of Mine may be fulfilled, then by no means do thou take upon thee this charge, nor in any wise presume to concern thyself with My sheep, for whom My Blood was poured forth. ' An address which is indeed terrible, and capable of shaking the hearts of tyrants, however hardened.

9. Wherefore be ye watchful, whosoever of you have been chosen and called to the work of this ministry ; take watchful heed, I say, to yourselves, and to the precious deposit which has been entrusted to you. It is a city ; watch, then, to maintain it in safety and concord. It is a Bride ; study to present her to the Lord decked with the precious jewels of abundant virtues. It is aflock ; study diligently to give it needful pasture. And perhaps we may not unfitly explain by these three elements of pastoral duty the threefold question which the Lord addressed to St. Peter. Now, that the watch and ward over the city may be effective, it must be of three kinds : against the violence of tyrants, against the deception from heretics, and against the temptations of evil spirits. Again, the ornaments of the Bride ought to be of three kinds of good works, of a saintly character, of high and noble principles. And the needful nourishment of the sheep is ordinarily indeed in the good pastures of the Holy Scriptures as being the heritage of the Lord ; but there is a distinction in these. For there are commandments which are imposed upon hard and carnal hearts, as a discipline and for the law of life ; and there are miscellaneous masses of dispensations, which are appointed on account of pity to those that are weak and of little courage ; and there are counsels strong and solid, which are proposed from the inmost recesses of wisdom to those who have health and strength, and senses trained to discern good from evil. For to those who are as children, or, so to speak, as little lambs, is given the milk of exhortation and encouragement, not strong meat. To this end, good and careful pastors do not cease to feed their flock to fatness with salutary and encouraging examples, and preferably with their own rather than with those of others. For if they offer only those of other people, and not their own, this is to their shame, and, also, their flock do not profit. For if, to give an instance, I, who appear to bear the charge of pastor among you, should set before you the meekness of Moses, the patience of Job, the mercy of Samuel, the holiness of David, and other similar examples of various virtues, and be myself impatient and severe, unmerciful, and in no way holy, my discourse would, I fear, be void of all force and unction, nor would you care to listen to it. But this I leave to the Divine goodness, that it may supply what is wanting and correct what is amiss in my conduct towards you. The good pastor will also take care to have in himself that salt of which the Gospel speaks ( Mark ix. 49) , knowing that a discourse seasoned with salt is agreeable and also salutary. This is what I have for the present to say regarding the safe keeping of the city, the adorning of the Bride, and the nourishment of the flock.

10. Yet I wish to set forth the same truths somewhat more in detail, and with respect to those who, while they thirst for honours with excessive desire, and engage rashly to bear the burden of duties to which they are unequal, expose themselves thereby to very great peril, so that they may know what they are entering upon, according to the question that is asked in the Scripture : Friend, wherefore art thou come ? ( Matt. xxvi. 50). If I do not mistake, for the safe keeping of the city only, it is absolutely necessary that a man should be strong, faithful, and spiritually minded. He must be strong to repulse the assaults of its enemies, spiritually minded that he may discover their crafty devices, and faithful that he may not seek to advance his own interests. In the next place, for the elevation and training of souls (for this is what is signified and referred to in the adorning of the Bride) , who does not at once perceive that a firm bond of discipline, as well as a sedulous diligence, is required ? On that account everyone who is engaged in this ministry needs to burn with fervent zeal. It was with this that Apostle was fired who was so jealous for the glory of the Bride of the Lord, for he said : I amjealous overyou with godlyjealousy, for I have espoused you to one husband that Imay present you as a chaste virgin to Christ ( 2 Cor. xi. 2). And, lastly, [a pastor must not be ignorant], for how can one who is so conduct the Lord's flocks to the sweet pastures of the Divine oracles ? But if he be a learned man, indeed, but not a good man, then it is to be feared that he will not so much nourish his flock by the abundance of his doctrine, as he will starve them by the barrenness of his life. Without having knowledge, then, and at the same time a good and praiseworthy life, it is mere rashness for anyone to take upon him the burden of this office. But see, I am obliged to come to an end, though I have not finished what I have to say upon this subject. We are called to another matter, to which it is an unworthy thing that this should give way. I am pressed on all sides, and I know not which I ought to suffer the more impatiently, to be dragged in one direction, and repressed on another, though to endure the two together is worse than either separately. O servitude ! O necessity ! not what I desire, but what I hate, that I do. Notice, however, where we leave off, so that as soon as it shall be free to us to return to the subject, we may take it up from this point ; in the Name of Him who is the Bridegroom of the Church, JESUS CHRIST our Lord, who is above all, God blessed for ever. AMEN.

WE are ready for a new departure. I described in the sermon of yesterday the leaders whom we should desire to have while we journey through this world, but I did not describe those whom we, in fact, have. And we find these latter to be wholly unlike the former. Not all of those whom you see at the present day surrounding the Bride on all sides, and who appear to take up the post at her right hand (to use a common phrase) as their own, 2 are the friends of the Bridegroom. Very few indeed are there among them who do not seek their own interests. They have a love for gifts, but they have not an equal love for Christ, because they have joined hands with mammon. See how they go about adorned and trim, clad in many and bright colours, like unto a bride coming out of her chamber. If you suddenly beheld such a person coming from afar, would you not take it to be the Bride herself rather than one of her guardians ? From whence, do you suppose, comes this great 1 These words indicate that the sermon was interrupted by necessity, and that some signal for the ending of it was made-- either the signal for the common meal, or for some other occupation, which St. Bernard thought of inferior importance to his subject. 2 Addextrare, a Low Latin word, and rare. It is not in Forcellini, and Du Cange gives but a few instances of its use. It is properly written addexterare.—ED. abundance of all things to them, this magnificence in dress, this luxury at their tables, these masses of gold and silver vases, but from the property of the Bride ? Thence it is that (the Church] is left poor and naked and in want, uncared for, wasted, pale and bloodless with famine. Assuredly this is not to adorn the Bride, but to despoil her; not to take care of her, but to destroy ; not to defend her, but to expose her to danger ; not to train her in good, but to abandon her to evil (instituere, prostituere) ; it is not to feed the flock, but to slaughter and devour it, and to such the Lord says : Who eat up My people as they eat bread (Ps. xiv. 4, and liii. 4) ; and in another Psalm : They have devoured Jacob, and laid waste his dwelling-place (lxxix. 7 ) ; and in a prophet : They eat up the sin of My people (Hosea iv. 8) , as if He said : ' They exact the price of sins for their own profit, but for the sinners they do not take the care which is due. ' Whom will you find among those who are set over the government of the Church who is not far more intent upon emptying the purses of those under his authority than of rooting up their sins ? Or where will you find one who by his prayers turns away the Divine anger, and proclaims the acceptable year of the Lord ? But let us speak of lighter evils : a heavier judgment awaits graver offences.

2. But yet it is in vain that we even remonstrate with them, for they do not listen to us. And if what I say is set down in writing, they disdain to read it ; or, if they happen to read it, they inveigh against me, although they would with much more justice inveigh against themselves. Let us, then, leave those people, who are not finders of the Bride, but sellers, and let us rather inquire who are those by whom the Bride is found, as she herself states. Those of the present day, though they have indeed inherited the ministry in their place, have not inherited their zeal. All desire to be successors [of the Apostles], few to be imitators of them. Would that they were as watchful in the discharge of the functions of their offices as they are eager in soliciting some dignified appointment. Then they would carefully and watchfully keep her [the Church] who was found by them and entrusted to their charge ; or rather they would be watchful for their own sakes, nor suffer it to be said of them : My lovers and my friends stand alooffrom my sore, and my kinsmen stand afar off (Ps. xxxviii. 11). A complaint which is wholly just, and which applies to no period more justly than to our own. It is too little for our watchmen not to watch over us ; they cause us positive and great harm. For they are plunged in a deep slumber, and do not awake even at the thunders of the Divine threatening, nor are stricken with fear even for their own peril. Thence it is that, having no concern for themselves, they have no concern for those under their charge ; they allow them to perish, and perish with them.

3. But who are those watchmen by whom, as the Bride declares, she was found ? They are the Apostles and Apostolic men. These are they who in truth guard the city, that is, the Church in which they are found, and that with so much the greater vigilance as they see her struggling in these times against very grave perils of a domestic and internal kind, as it is written : A man's enemies are the men of his own house (Micah vii. 6). For they do not abandon her, on whose behalf they have resisted even unto blood, or leave her deprived of their help, but protect and guard her by day and night, that is, in their life and even in their death. And ifprecious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His Saints (Ps. cxvi. 15), I entertain no doubt that in death they do that with so much the greater ability, as in it their dignity and authority are so greatly strengthened.

4. ' You assert these things, ' objects someone, ' as if you had seen them with your eyes, but they are altogether beyond the reach of human sight. ' To which I reply : If you confide in the witness of your own eyes as faithful, the witness of God is greater. And He says : I have set watchmen on thy walls, O Jerusalem, which shall never hold their peace day nor night (Is . lxii. 6). But it is of the Angels, you rejoin, that this is spoken. I do not deny this ; they are all ministering spirits (Heb. i. 14). But who forbids me to think the same of those who in power are not unequal to the Angels themselves, while they are perhaps as much more favourable to us by their sympathy and kindness as they are more nearly allied to us by nature ? Add to this that they have endured the same sufferings and miseries in which we are now for a time involved. Will there not, then, be a profound compassion and interest for us aroused in those holy souls, since they doubtless remember that they themselves have passed through similar trials ? Is not that saying theirs in the Psalms : We went throughfire and through water, but Thou broughtest us out into a wealthy place ( Ps. lxvi. 12). What ? Will they, having passed through, leave us, their sons and their successors, in the midst of the fires and of the floods, nor even deign to stretch out a helping hand to us as we are struggling with dangers ? Not so. It is well with thee, O holy Church, our Mother, it is well with thee even in this place of thy pilgrimage, for help comes to thee both from heaven and from earth . Those who keep thee neither slumber nor sleep. Thy guardians are the holy Angels ; thy watchmen, the spirits and souls of the righteous. They do not mistake who think that thou art found by each of these orders of spirits, and that by each thou art equally guarded. And to each order there is a special reason for this their care of thee : to the one, that without thee they shall not be made perfect ; to the other, that the fulness of their number will not be made up except from thee. For who does not know that when Satan and his accomplices fell from heaven, the number of the dwellers in heaven was diminished in no small degree ? From thee, then, all these await their consummation : the one order that of their number ; the other, that of their desires. Understand, then, that the words of the Psalmist apply to thee : The just wait for me until Thou reward me ( Ps. cxlii . 8, Douay) .

5. Notice, also, that it is not said that she has found them, but rather that they have found her ; and that is, as I think, because that is the task to which they are called. For how shall they preach unless they be sent ? Now, in the Gospels we read that the Lord Himself said to the Apostles : Behold, Isendyouforth ( Luke x. 3) ; and again : Goye into all the world andpreach the Gospel to every creature ( Mark xvi . 15). Thus it was. She sought the Bridegroom, and to Him that was not unknown ; for it was He who aroused in her mind the desire to seek Him, who bestowed upon her the desire to accomplish the precepts of the law, which is for a training unto life, provided that there was someone to instruct her and to teach her the way of wisdom. And He sent before her coming those who should plant and should water, that is to say, for her instruction and strengthening in every certitude of truth, and that they should bring her certain news of her Beloved, because He whom her soul truly loves, and whom she is seeking, is the Truth. And, in fact, who is the faithful and true love of the soul but He, in and through whom the soul is made to love the truth ? I am gifted with reason, I am capable of truth ; but it will avail me nothing if I am destitute of love for what is true. Of all these branches, of which the root is in me, He is the fruit. I am not in safety from the severing axe if I am found without Him. It is in Him, without doubt, that I am formed in the image and likeness of God, and am in this more excellent than all other living creatures. Thence it is that my soul ventures to aspire to the sweet and pure embrace of truth, and thus to rest in the love of Him with the most complete security and perfect sweetness, if only it may find grace in the eyes of a Bridegroom so august, and be found worthy to attain to this great glory, or rather if He will present her to Himself not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing. To how great a judgment, think you, will a man render himself liable, and of how great a punishment will he be worthy, who shall show himself regardless of so precious a gift of God ? But of this let us speak at another time.

6. But now the Bride does not find Him whom she sought, and she herself has been found by those whom she sought not. Let those who do not fear to enter upon the ways of life without teacher or guide listen to this. They consider themselves to be equally disciples, and their own masters, in the spiritual art. Nor is even this enough for them ; blind leaders of the blind, they heap together disciples to themselves. How many have been found to have been thus most perilously drawn aside from the right path ! For as they were ignorant of the snares and devices of Satan, it has followed that those who had begun in the Spirit have finished their course in the flesh, and, being led away, have fallen into shameful and inexcusable excesses . Let such take care to walk heedfully ; let them take an example from the Bride, who was unable to attain unto Him whom she longed for until she was met by those whose ministry she availed herself of to gain knowledge of her Beloved ; that is to say, to learn the fear of the Lord. He who hesitates to give his hand to his legitimate teacher gives it to a seducer. And he who sends away his sheep to their pastures without a guardian is a shepherd, not of the sheep, but of wolves.

7. But now let us see in what sense the Bride declares herself to have been ' found. ' For it seems to me that the word is employed in an unusual meaning, and that she speaks as if the Church had come only from one place ; while, according to the word of the Lord, it came from the east and from the west (Matt. viii. 11 ), and from all the ends of the world. But neither has the Church been ever assembled unto one place where it might be found by the Apostles or by the Angels, to be directed or conducted unto Him, whom the soul of the Bride loveth. Could it have been found before it was collected ? Evidently not, because it did not as yet exist. Wherefore if she had said that it was collected, or congregated, or (to use a term more applicable to the Church) gathered together by the preachers [of the Gospel), I should have simply passed that over without making any remark upon it. For they are the coworkers of God, whom also they heard speaking thus : Hethat gathereth not with Me, scattereth abroad ( Matt. xii. 30). Nor would it have seemed strange to me if one should say that it was founded or built up by them. For they have done this in union with Him who says, as we read in the Gospels : Upon this rock I will build My Church (Matt. xvi. 18) ; and, It wasfounded upon a rock ( Matt. vii. 25). But now she says none of these things, but, speaking in an unusual manner, says that she has beenfound, which makes us delay a little, and suspect that there is here some hidden meaning, which we ought to examine with greater care.

8. I wished, I own, to pass it over, and not to engage in an inquiry to which I feel myself not to be equal. But when I remember in how many obscure and difficult passages I have felt myself to be aided, even beyond my hope, when you lifted up your hearts in prayer on my behalf, I am ashamed of my want of faith ; and blaming my fear, I undertake, though by no means with confidence, that which I timidly shrunk from. The accustomed help from the Lord will, I trust, not be wanting to me ; and, in any case, the kindliness of my hearers will prevent what I have to say from being altogether without value. But with this the next sermon shall begin ; for the present it is time to conclude. May He who is the Bridegroom of the Church, JESUS CHRIST our Lord, grant unto you not only to bear in mind the things which you have heard, but to love them ardently, and effectually to fulfil them in your actions. He is above all, God blessed for ever. AMEN. THE CHURCH OF THE ELECT 479

WE made a pause, if I remember rightly, at the word found , hearing with a kind of scruple the statement of the Bride that she was found by her preachers. We have stated the causes of our doubt and hesitation, and it seemed to us that here some hidden meaning was to be sought for ; but this could not be done at the conclusion of a sermon, which point we had then reached. What remains, then, for us to do, but to fulfil now the promise which we made ? In the exposition of this great mystery, which the Apostle of the Gentiles has interpreted as the holy and chaste union betwixt Christ and His Church (Eph. v. 32), and which is the very work of our salvation, three elements cooperate [and are to be taken into consideration] ; God, the angelic race, and man. Why, indeed, should not God bring about, and take care for, these sacred nuptials of His Beloved Son ? He does so in truth, and with entire willingness. He would assuredly be sufficient to accomplish it by Himself, and without the least help from these ; nor could they, without Him, effect anything. That He, therefore, has associated them in the work of this ministry is not for the sake of assistance to Himself, but for good to them. For He has placed merit in works, as regards men, according to that saying : The labourer is worthy of his hire (Luke x. 7 ) ; and, Every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour ( 1 Cor. iii. 8) , whether he who plants in faith, or he who waters that which has been already planted. Now, if God employs the ministry of Angels to conduce to the salvation of men, does He not do it that Angels may be loved by men? For, that Angels love men is plain, especially from this, that Angels are not unaware of the fact that it is by men the ancient losses of their state are to be repaired and made good. And assuredly it was becoming that the realm of charity should not be ruled by other laws than those of mutual love between those who together are to reign, and by the pure affections of each, both to each other and to God.

2. But there is considerable difference in the manner in which these three causes act, according to the nobleness and dignity of each worker. For God doeth that which He wills, by His volition only ; without stir, without motion, without alteration of place or time, of cause, or person. For He is the Lord of Sabaoth, who orders all things with peaceful and unquestioned power. He is also Wisdom, who sweetly doth order all things (Wisd. xii. 18, and viii. 3). An Angel acts without stir or agitation, but not without change of time and place. But a man cannot act without stir and eagerness of mind, nor is free, in acting, from movement of body and mind. For he is bidden to work out his salvation with fear and trembling (Phil. ii . 12) , and to eat bread in the sweat of his face (Gen. iii. 19).

3. These things being explained, consider now with me that, in the glorious work of our salvation, there are three things which God, who is the Author of them, reserves unto Himself, and in which He anticipates all those who are helpers and co-workers with Him ; these are predestination, creation, inspiration. Of which predestination had its beginning, I do not say from the founding of the Church, or even from this time or that time, for it is before all time. Creation, again, is coeval with time ; while inspiration takes place in time, when and where God wills. According to predestination, then, there never has been any time when there was not a Church of the elect before the consciousness of God. If the unbeliever wonders at this, let him hear something at which he will wonder still more : that it has always been acceptable to God, and has always been loved by Him. Why should I not speak out boldly that hidden wisdom which has been made known to me from the Heart of God by that revealer of His high designs ? I mean St. Paul, who has not hesitated to make known this secret which he had drawn, as he had so many others, from the riches of the Divine goodness. He says : Who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ, according as He hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love ; and he adds : Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children, by Jesus Christ, to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved (Eph. i. 3-6). And there is no doubt that these words are spoken with the voice and in the name of all the elect ; and these are the Church. Who, then, even among the blessed spirits, could ever have been able to discover that Church in the deep bosom of the abyss of eternity, before the work of its creation was brought forth into the light of day, unless God, to whom is eternity itself, had chosen to reveal it ?

4. But even when, at the command of its Creator, it had appeared, and was seen, under created forms and visible appearances, it was not at once recognised, either by men or Angels, because it was unfamiliar to them, being shadowed by the earthly likeness of man, and covered with the darkness of death. And not one of the sons of men hath entered into this life without this veil of universal confusion, One only excepted, He who enters it without stain of sin. He is Emmanuel, who, although He has taken from us, and put on for our sakes, the likeness of our sinful flesh, has not taken the reality of our sin. For the Apostle declares that He who appeared in the likeness of sinful 1 In the MS. of St. Germain the reading is ' of body ' (quam corporali). But I prefer temporali, as in the MS. of Citeaux, so as to answer more nearly to the preceding sentence, where it is said that God acts without alteration of place or time (Mabillon's Note) . 1 flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh (Rom. viii. 3). All the remainder, whether elect or reprobate, have entered this life in the same manner, for there is no distinction ; all have sinned, and all bear the livery of the shame of sin. Because of this, therefore, although the Church was already called into being, and existed among created things, yet it could not be found or recognised by any creature, being marvellously hidden, for the time, both within the bosom of a blessed predestination, and within the mass of a miserable condemnation.

5. But [the Church] which Wisdom predestining had hidden from all eternity, and Creative Power had not produced when the world began, the Divine Grace, which visits the earth, has in its due time revealed, according to the operation of that which I have named above, inspiration, because it consists of an inbreathing of the Spirit of the Bridegroom into human spirits for a preparation of the Gospel of peace, that is, to prepare a way for the Lord, and for the glory of His Gospel, into the hearts of all those who were predestined unto life, as many as they might be. It would have been in vain that the watchmen had toiled in preaching the Word, if this grace had not gone before. But now, seeing that the Word of God ' runneth very swiftly, ' that the people of the nations are with ease turned unto the Lord, that their various tribes and languages concur in the unity of the faith, and that the ends of the earth are collected into the bosom of that one Church, Catholic and apostolic, which is the mother of us all, they have recognised the riches of that grace which was hidden from ages and from generations in the secret of an eternal predestination, and have rejoiced to have found her whom before all ages the Lord had chosen for Himself as His Bride.

6. Thus, then, as I think, it appears plainly not to have been without significance that the Bride declares that she was found by them ; namely, as signifying that [the Church] was collected together, not [ self ] elected, and found before converted. For the conversion of each of the faithful ought to be attributed to Him, to whom it is necessary for all to say, as in the Psalm : Convert us, O God of our salvation ( Ps. lxxxv. 4, Douay, partly). But I cannot, perhaps, apply the term of finding with such propriety to every soul, as the term of conversion . Or, rather, this is the state of the facts : The Lord cannot be said to find a soul, because He prevents (that is to say, is beforehand with) it ; and prevention excludesfinding (inventionem). What is there for Him to find to whom nothing is at any time unknown ? The Lord knoweth them that are His, saith one (2 Tim. ii . 19) ; and what does He say Himself? Iknow whom Ihave chosen. Plainly He refers to her whom from eternity He had foreknown : whom He chose, and loved, and formed ; and therefore she could not be said to be found by Him. Yet I might safely say that she has been prepared by Him that she might be found. For he that saw bare record, and we know that his record is true (John xix. 35). This is what he says : IJohn saw the Holy City, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband ( Rev. xxi. 2) ; and he was one of the watchmen who guard the city. And hear Him who is the Author and Preparer [of the Church] Himself, [and see Him] pointing her out, as it were, with His Finger to the watchmen, but under another metaphor. Lift up your eyes, He said, and look on the fields, for they are white already to harvest (John iv. 35) . On this account the Lord of the Harvest invites His labourers to the work, when He has seen that all things were prepared, so that without much labour on their part they may be able to pride themselves on being labourers together with God ( 1 Cor. iii. 9). For what have they to do ? They have to seek the Bride, and, when they have found her, to tell her of her Beloved. For they, because they are the friends of the Bridegroom, do not seek their own glory, but His. And they will not have to labour hard with regard to her, since she is already present, and is seeking Him with the devotion of her whole heart, inasmuch as her will has been prepared by the Lord.

7. Now, even while those watchmen have as yet said nothing to her, she anticipates her preachers, having been herself anticipated, and inquires of them : Saw ye Him whom my soul loveth ? (iii . 3). Rightly, then, has she stated that she was found by those who guard the city, since she knows that she is already foreknown and anticipated by the Lord of the city, and that they find her such as she is, and do not make her so. Cornelius was thus found by Peter, and Paul by Ananias ; but each of them had been previously found and prepared by the Lord. What preparation could be more complete than that of Saul, who had cried with submission, both of heart and voice : Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do ? ( Acts ix. 6). Nor was that of Cornelius. less, since, by his alms and prayers which the Lord had inspired him to make, he had merited to attain unto the faith (Acts x. 4). Philip also found Nathanael ; but the Lord, who saw him when he was under the figtree, had first found him. What was that seeing of him by the Lord but a preparation ? And in the same way it is related that Andrew found his brother Simon ; but that he was both foreseen and it was foreknown by the Lord that he should be called Cephas, which signifies ' Strong in faith ' (John i. 41 , 42, 45, 48) .

8. We read of Mary, too, that she was found when she had conceived by the Holy Ghost ( Matt. i. 18). I believe that the Bride of the Lord resembles in some degree His Mother in this respect. For unless she also had been found filled with the Holy Ghost, she would not have questioned with such confidence those who found her, respecting Him, whose is the Spirit. She would not have endured that they should have declared to her to what end they had come, but she spake to them herself, and, indeed, out of the fulness of her heart : Sawye Him whom my soul loveth ? She knew that the eyes which had seen Him were blessed, and in her admiration for those who had had that blessing, she said : ' Are you not they to whom it has been given to see Him, whom so many prophets and kings desired to see, and have not seen ? Are you not they who have merited to behold Wisdom in the flesh, the Truth in bodily form, God in Man ? Many there are who say, Lo, He is here, and Lo, He is there ; but I think it safer for me to give credence to you, who have eaten and drank with Him, after He rose from the dead. ' I believe what has been said will suffice respecting the inquiry made by the Bride, of the watchmen, but if not, it shall be supplied in another sermon. But even now, and from this, it has been made abundantly clear, that [the Church] has been prevented by the Holy Spirit, and found by them who guard the city, because it is she whom God has foreseen and predestined before all ages, and prepared to be an everlasting joy, throughout eternal ages, to His dear Son, that she may be holy and immaculate in His sight, growing as a lily, and flourishing for ever before the Lord and Father of my Lord JESUS CHRIST, the Bridegroom of the Church, who is above all, God blessed for evermore. AMEN.

LOVE, violent, vehement, burning, impetuous, which dost not suffer anything else to be thought of, but, despising all things in comparison, art content with thyself ! Thou confoundest ranks, takest no count of custom, ignorest all measure ; thou dost triumph in thy own self over all the rules of opportuneness, of reason, of reticence, of prudence, or of judgment, and bringest them under control. Every thought and word of hers is full of thee, has regard to thee and to nothing else, so entirely hast thou taken possession of her, both in heart and tongue. She says : Saw ye Him whom my soul loveth ? As if they knew what was the subject of her thoughts. ' Dost thou ask for news of Him whom thy soul loveth, and has He not a name ? Who art thou ; and He, who is He ?' speak thus, because of the strangeness of this address, and the singular disregard of names, in which this passage appears very different to other Scriptures. Whence, in this epithalamium, the words are not so much to be considered as the feelings which underlie and prompt them, because the sacred affection which is plainly the entire subject of this whole canticle is thus to be estimated, that is, not by word only, or by language, but in deed and in truth. Love speaks in it I everywhere, and if anyone desires to obtain a knowledge of those things which are read in it, a spirit of love is necessary to him that he may do so. In vain will one who is without love attempt to listen to or read this Song of Love ; the cold heart cannot comprehend or appreciate its language, full of feeling and fire. Just as one who is unacquainted with Greek or with Latin cannot understand a person who speaks in either of those languages, and so with other things, so is it with the language of love; it is strange and barbarous to one who does not love, and to him will be but as sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal ( 1 Cor. xiii. 1 ). But as they ( I mean the watchmen) have received from the Spirit the ability to love, they understand what the Spirit speaks, and are able to respond on the spot to the words of love addressed to them ; and even to respond in the same language, that is, in feelings of affection and acts of kindness.

2. They do, indeed, instruct her so well concerning Him about whom she inquires, and that in a brief time, that she says : It was but a little that 1passedfrom them, but Ifound Himwhom my soul loveth. She says well a little, because their reply to her was brief and comprehensive ; that is, they delivered to her the Creed, which is a concise statement of the Faith. Andwhat follows is in similar terms. It was expedient indeed that the Bride should pass by them, through whom she should learn the truth, but also that she should pass beyond them. And if she had not passed beyond them she would not have found Him whom she sought. And you may be assured that they themselves urged this very thing upon her. For they did not preach themselves, but Christ Jesus their Lord, and He is assuredly both beyond them and above. Wherefore also He says : Come unto Me, all ye that be desirous of Me ( Ecclus. xxiv. 19). Nor was it enough to pass to Him, but she is taught to pass through to Him. Because He whom she was seeking had also passed through. For not only did He pass from death unto life, but He passed through death unto glory. It was indispensable, then, that the Bride should likewise pass through unto Him, otherwise she could not succeed in reaching Him, not having followed His footsteps whithersoever He went.

3. And to explain more clearly what I say : if my Lord Jesus had risen indeed from the dead, but had not ascended into heaven, it could not be said of Him that He had passed through, but only that He had passed away ; and consequently the Bride in seeking Him must pass away from others, but need not pass beyond them. But as, in ascending into heaven, He has passed beyond Resurrection, the Bride says with accuracy, not simply that she has passed, but that she has passed beyond, inasmuch as by faith and devotion she has followed Him even unto the heavens. Therefore to believe the Resurrection is a passing, but to believe the Ascension is a passing beyond. And perhaps she knew the one and did not know the other (which I remember that I said one day when I was treating the subject) . Therefore, having been instructed by them in that which 1 Sermon I. , in Festo Pascha. was wanting to her, namely, that He who had risen from the dead had also ascended into heaven, she also has thither ascended, that is, has passed beyond (this sphere of outward things], and has found Him ( Heb. iv. 14, and compare Collect for Ascension Day in the Common Prayer Book of Church of England). How could she fail to do so, when arising in heart and mind unto the place where He is in body ? It was but a little that I passed from them. Rightly does she say from them ; for our Head has preceded and transcended in two respects both His apostles, and all other His members who are upon the earth ; that is to say, by His Resurrection (as I have already mentioned) and by His Ascension. And yet in each case Christ is the first-fruits. He has gone before, and our faith has gone before also. Where has it not followed Him ? If He has ascended into heaven, it is there ; if He has gone down into hell , it is there also ; and if He has taken wings with the morning, and dwelt in the utmost parts of the sea, even there, it declares to Him, shall Thy Hand lead me, and Thy Right Hand shall hold me (Ps. cxxxix. 8-10) . And, finally, is it not according to this faith that He, the Father of the Bridegroom, He, who is supremely Powerful and supremely good, has raised us up, and made us to sit at His Right Hand ? 2 So far to explain what the Church has said : Ipassed beyond them : because she has passed beyond her own self in abiding, by her faith, in regions whither she has not as yet attained in fact. I think that it is now clear why she has said, ' I have passed beyond, ' rather than said simply ' I have passed. ' Let us now go on to the words which follow.

4. Iheld Him, and would not let Him go, until Ihad brought Him into my mother's house, and into the chamber of her that conceived me. Thus it is that from that time and thenceforward, the people of Christ have never been without either faith upon the earth or charity within the Church. Floods have come, and winds have raged, and beat upon it, and it has not fallen, for it was founded upon a rock ( Matt. vii . 25) . That Rock is CHRIST. Therefore neither the wordy diatribes of philosophers, nor the cavils of heretics, nor the swords of persecutors, have ever been able, nor shall they ever be able, to separate it from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus ( Rom. viii. 39), so strongly does the Church hold to Him whom her soul loveth, so firmly convinced is she that it is good to hold fast to God. ' Good it is, ' says the prophet Isaiah, ' for the soldering. ' What is more tenacious than this solder, which is not dissolved by water, nor parted by winds, nor even severed by sword strokes ? For many waters, we are told, cannot quench love (Cant. viii. 7). I held Him, and would not let Him go. And the holy Patriarch also said : Iwill not let Thee go, unless Thou bless me (Gen. xxxii. 26) . She also will not let Him go, and perhaps her attachment is stronger than that of the Patriarch, for not even for the sake of a benediction can she consent 1 Another reading isfide. 2 In some copies it is added in cœlestibus. See Eph. ii . 6. 3 Is. xli . 7, not used in a literal sense. to part with Him. ' I desire,' she says, ' not even Thy benediction, but Thee. ' Whom have I in heaven but Thee ? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside Thee (Ps. lxxiii. 25). I will not let Thee go, even if Thou hast given me Thy blessing.

5. Iheld Him, and would not let Him go. Nor does He, perhaps, desire less to be held, for He says : My delights were with the sons of men ( Prov. viii . 31 ), and in the Gospel He gives the promise : Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world (Matt. xxviii. 20). What bond of union is stronger than that which is compacted by the perfect and earnest willingness of the two who are parties to it ? I held Him, she declares. But, nevertheless, she is held fast in return by Him whom she holds, as in another place she says to Him : Thou hast holden me by my right hand ( Ps. lxxiii. 24). And she who holds and is holden, how can she possibly fall ? She holds to the Lord by the firmness of her faith, by the fervency of her devotion. But yet she could not long hold fast to Him, were she not also held by Him . It is the power and the mercy of the Lord by which she is held. I held Him, and would not let Him go, until Ihad brought Him into my mother's house, and into the chamber of her that conceived me. Great is the charity of the Church, inasmuch as she does not grudge her choicest delights even to her rival, which is the Synagogue. What goodness can be greater than to be prepared to communicate even to her enemy, Him whom her soul loves ? And yet it is not wonderful, inasmuch as salvation is of the Jews (John iv. 22). To the place whence He came forth, let the Saviour return, that the remnant of Israel may be saved ( Rom. ix. 27). Let not the branches be ungrateful to the root, nor the children to their mother. Let not the branches grudge to the root the sap which they themselves have derived from it, nor the children grudge to their mother the milk which they have drawn from her bosom. Let the Church hold firmly the salvation which Judæa has lost ; let her hold it fast, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in, and so all Israel shall be saved ( Rom. xi . 25, 26). She would wish to come in common to the common salvation, which is partaken by all, in such a manner, that no part is taken away from any. This she does, and more. What more ? She chooses the name and the grace of His Bride. This is over and above the gift of salvation .

6. This degree of charity would be incredible, were it not that the words of the Bride, here recorded, compel us to believe it. For she has said, if you have noticed, that she wishes to bring Him to whom she holds so closely, not only into the house, but into the chamber, of her mother, which is the sign of a singular prerogative. It would be suficient for salvation that He should enter the house ; but that He enters into the secret of the chamber is a sign of special grace. This day, saith the Lord, is salvation come unto this house ( Luke xix. 9) . When the Saviour had entered the house, how could it be otherwise than that those of the house should be saved ? But she that merits to receive Him in the chamber has for her part His secret gift. Salvation is for the whole house, but the higher and sweeter gifts are reserved for those, for whom they are prepared by the Father. Until Ihad brought Him into my mother's house, she says. Of what house does she speak, but of that of which the Lord had foretold to the Jews : Behold, your house is left unto you desolate ? ( Luke xiii. 35). He has done what He had said, according to His declaration made by a prophet : Ihaveforsaken Mine house, Ihave left Mineheritage (Jer. xii. 7 ) ; and now the Bride promises to bring Him back to it, and to restore to her mother's house its lost salvation. And as if even this were a little thing, hear what a promise of good she adds thereto : And into the chamber ofher that conceived me. He who enters into the marriage chamber is the Bridegroom. Great is the power of love ! The Saviour had gone forth from His home and from His heritage with indignation and wrath ; and now He is so far turned from the fierceness of His anger, so won to forgiveness and grace, as to return not only as a Saviour, but as a Bridegroom. O daughter [of this house], blessed art thou from the Lord, who dost quench the indignation, and restore the heritage. Blessed art thou of thy mother, for it is by thy good deed that the wrath of the Lord is turned away, that salvation is brought back to her ; that He is brought back who says to her : I am thy Salvation (Ps. xxxv. 3). Nor is even this enough, for He adds : 1 will betroth thee unto Me for ever : yea, I will betroth thee unto Me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving kindness, and in mercies ( Hos. ii. 19). But remember that she who wins these kindnesses for her mother is the Bride. How can she be willing to yield her Bridegroom, and such a Bridegroom, to another ; nay, desire to do so ? But it is not to be understood thus. It is as a good daughter that she desires this great good for her mother, yet not to give it up, but to communicate it. It is sufficient for both ; and, indeed, they are not two, but one in Christ. For He is our Peace, who has made both one ; that there may be one Bride, and one Bridegroom, Jesus Christ our Lord, who is above all, God blessed for ever. AMEN.

SOME of you, as I have learned, find a reason for discontent, because, while I have for some days past taken pleasure in occupying you with the profound and wonderful mysteries contained in the words of the Bride, the discourses which I have delivered to you have been too little seasoned with moral reflections, This sermon was preached after the Council, held at Rheims in the year 1148, in which Gilbert was condemned. or even altogether without them. That is indeed different from my usual custom. But permit me to return again to those subjects which I have already expounded. For I cannot proceed without taking a brief retrospect of these. Tell me, then, if you remember, from what part of the Scripture it was that I began to deprive you of this satisfaction that you desire, that so I may commence afresh from that point. It is my task to repair your loss, or, rather, I trust to the Lord, in dependence upon whom I do all things, that He will do so. From what point, then, shall I begin again ? From this verse, if I do not mistake : On my bed Isought Him whom my soul loveth. From that verse and henceforward my one endeavour was to disperse the dense cloud of mystery in which these allegories were enveloped, and to bring forth into the light of knowledge the sacred and mysterious joys of Christ and His Church. But now let us go back and seek out the moral senses of these words. That which may be for your benefit cannot be disagreeable to me. And this will be done with considerable fitness, if we apply what has been said of Christ and the Church in a similar way to the Word of God and the soul.

2. But someone will say to me : ' Why do you join these two together ? What relation is there between the Word and the soul ?' Much in every way. In the first place, there is so close an affinity between the nature of the One and that of the other, that the One is the Image and Likeness of God, the other made after that image. In the second place, the resemblance that is between them is a witness of that affinity. For the soul has been created, not only after the image, but in the likeness of it. Do you ask, In what respects is it like ? Listen first, and hear in what respects it is in the Image of the Word. The Word is truth, and wisdom, and righteousness, and these constitute the image. Of what is it the image ? Of [Him who is] Truth, and Wisdom, and Righteousness. He who is the Image is, then, Righteousness of Righteousness, Wisdom of Wisdom, Truth of Truth, yea, Light of Light, and in a word, God of God. None of these can be predicated of the soul, because it is not [at the present] the Image of God. But it is capable of these excellences, and desirous of them, and, therefore, perhaps is shown to be in the image of the WORD. It is of creatures the loftiest, since it is capable ofthat greatness, and the desire it feels for that is a mark of its uprightness. For we read that God made man upright (Eccles. vii. 29) ; and as for his greatness, his capacity, as has been said, is a conclusive proof of it. For it is of necessity that he who is in a certain image should be in conformity with that image, and not merely share in the empty name of the image ; inasmuch as the archetypal Being Himself bears not His Name simply for the name's sake, but because it is expressive of His attributes. But you are told of Him who is the Image ofthat archetypal Being, that He was in the Form of God, and thought it not robbery to be equal with God (Phil. ii . 6). You see that His uprightness is shown by His being in the Form of God, and His greatness by His equality with Him ; so that uprightness being compared with uprightness, and greatness with greatness, it becomes manifest that the Image, and that which is made in that image [ i.e. , the soul], correspond in one of these respects ; while the Image, and that Being of whom He is the Image, correspond in both. For it is He of whom you have heard holy David sing in a Psalm : Great is our Lord, and of great power (Ps. cxlvii. 5) ; and again, The Lord is upright and there is no unrighteousness in Him (Ps. xcii. 15). Of that great and righteous God He is the Image, so that He is great, and He is righteous ; and it is from Him that the soul, that is made in His image, has its likeness.

3. But I inquire : Has He who is the Image of God nothing more than the soul which is made in His likeness, for we ascribe to it also to be great and to be righteous ? Assuredly, there is a very great difference. The one has received those qualities in a measure : the other has them according to His equality [with the Father] . Is there not still another difference ? There is this : Upon the one either creation or condescending goodness has conferred them : but they belong to the other by His generation. And there is no doubt that this is a sign of far higher dignity. No one can fail to see that the one receives these qualities only by the bounty of God ; but the Other has from God His very Nature and Substance, which is a condition far more exalted. For the Image of God is consubstantial with Him; and all that He appears to communicate to the same Image of Him is Essential to Both, not accidental. Notice also still another particular in which He who is the Image of God is immeasurably superior. To be great and to be righteous ; who does not know that those two qualities are distinct in their nature ? Yet in Him they are but one. And even more : they are one with Him. Not only is it with Him the same thing to be righteous and to be great, but His greatness and His righteousness are no other than His Being. It is not thus with the soul. Its greatness and its righteousness are both distinct from itself and distinct from each other. For if, as I have said above, the soul is great because it is capable of things eternal, and righteous because it yearns for the goodness everlasting, then the soul which does not desire nor seek for the things which are above, but those which are upon the earth, is not upright, but is bent downwards, and so ceases to be always great, though it remains always capable of eternal existence. For even if the soul should never receive it, it will always retain this capability ; and thus the saying of the Scripture is realized, Surely man passeth as an image (Ps. xxxviii. 7 , Douay), yet only in part, so that the immeasurable superiority of the WORD, as possessing these qualities in their completeness, may clearly appear. For how is it possible that the Word should fall from being righteous and great, since He is Himself greatness and righteousness ? Man, on the contrary, possesses these qualities in part, lest if he were wholly deprived of them, no hope of salvation should remain to him. For if [the soul] should cease to be great, it would cease also to be capable of salvation, inasmuch as it is from this capacity, as I have said, that its greatness is derived. How, then, could it possibly hope for that which it was not capable of receiving ?

4. It is, then, by the greatness which it still retains, even after having lost its righteousness, that man passes through this world in the image [of the WORD] ; only he limps (so to speak) on one foot as he walks, and he has become an alienated son. For of such it was, I think, that these words were spoken : The children that are strangers have lied unto me, strange children have faded away, and have halted from their paths (Ps. xviii. 46, Douay). With great fitness are they styled strange children ; for they are children, because they have re tained that which made them great ; and yet they are strange, because of the loss of their original righteousness. Nor would he have said have halted, but ' have fallen, ' or something like that, if they had divested themselves entirely of the image in which men were made. So then, now, man passes through the world in the image of the WORD so far as relates to greatness ; but as relates to righteousness, he, so to speak, halts ; he is troubled and despoiled of that image ; and the Scripture speaks thus of him : Every man walketh in a vain shew ; surely they are disquieted in vain. Altogether in vain, for it goes on to say : He heapeth up riches, and knowethnotwho shall gather them (Ps. xxxix. 6) . And why is he ignorant, except that he bends down towards things low and earthly, and treasures up for himself nothing but earth ? He does not know in the least for whom he is gathering those things which he confides to the earth, whether for the moths to devour, or for thieves to break through and steal, for robbers to pillage, or for fire to destroy. And therefore it is in the person of that unhappy man who contorts himself towards the ground, and broods over none but earthly things, that the melancholy declaration is made in the Psalms : Iam troubled ; I am bowed down greatly ; I go mourning all the day long ( Ps. xxxviii. 6). He has experience in himself of the truth in that saying of the Wise Man : God hath made man upright ; but they have sought out many inventions (Eccles. vii. 29) . And at once the voice of ridicule is addressed to him : Bow down, that we may go over (Is. li. 23) .

5. But how have we arrived at this point ? Was it not thus, that we wished to show that greatness and righteousness (which are the two excellences that we had determined to be in the Image ofGod) are not one in the soul and with the soul, as we have shown it to be offaith that they are one in the Word and with the WORD. And as to righteousness, it is quite plain from what has been said, that it is distinct both from the soul itself and from the greatness of the soul, since even when it no longer exists, the soul endures, and is still great. But in what way shall it be shown that the greatness of the soul is distinct from the soul itself ? For this cannot be done in the same manner in which the distinction between the soul and its righteousness was demonstrated ; the soul cannot be deprived of its greatness as it may be of its righteousness. Yet the greatness of the soul is not the soul itself ; for although the soul is not found without its greatness, yet the greatness itself is found also without (extra, beyond) the soul. Do you ask where ? In the Angels. For the Angels are great in the same manner as the soul, namely, by the capacity they have for things eternal. It has been shown clearly that the soul is distinct from its righteousness, because it may be deprived of that righteousness ; why, then, should it not be distinct from its greatness, which it cannot claim to be exclusively its own ? If, then, the one of these qualities is not in every soul, and the other is not found in the soul alone, it is plain that both the one and the other is distinct from the soul. Also, no form is that of which it is the form. Now, the greatness of the soul is its form. For it cannot be said not to be the form of the soul because it is inseparable from it. All differences of substance are of this nature, not only those which are so proper to one thing that they cannot belong to any other, but also certain others which are common to many natures. The soul, then, is not [the same as] its greatness, even as the blackness of a crow is not the crow, nor the whiteness of snow the snow, nor the faculty of reason or of risibility is the man who possesses them ; and yet you will never find a crow without blackness, snow without whiteness, nor a man without the faculty of reason or of risibility. Thus also the soul and the greatness of the soul, although inseparable, are distinct from each other. How can they be otherwise than distinct, when the one is in the subject [in which it inheres], and the other is the subject and the substance ? The only Nature which is supreme and uncreate, that is, God the Holy Trinity, possesses for Itself alone this pure and unique simplicity of Essence, that there is not found in it one thing and another thing, here and there, one time and another time. For it abides in its own Self, It is all that It has, and what It is ; It exists always, and in a manner unchanging and unchanged. All that in other natures is separated or different, is in it united and rendered alike, so that in It, number does not cause plurality, nor diversity change. It contains all places, and not being contained in any, sets in due order all things, each in its place. Beneath it pass all times ; it is not subject to them. The future it does not await ; it does not hold anything in remembrance as past, nor experience any as being present.

6. Let us withdraw ourselves, beloved, let us withdraw ourselves from those teachers of novelties, not dialecticians, but heretics, who, in their extreme impiety, argue that the greatness in which God is great, the goodness in which He is good, the wisdom in which He is wise, and the righteousness in which He is righteous, and lastly, the Divinity in which He is God, is not God. He is God, ' they say, ' by His Divinity, but the Divinity is not God. Perhaps it does not condescend to be God, because it is so great that it makes God to be what He is . ' But if It is not God, what is It ? For either It is God, or something which is not God, or It is nothing at all. Now, you do not allow that It is God ; you do not pretend, I suppose, that It is nothing ; then you confess that It is so necessary to God, that without It He could not be God, but that by It He is [that which He is ] . If, then, there be something which is not God, either it will be less than He, or greater than He, or equal. But how can it be less than He, seeing that it is by it He is God? It remains, then, that you should allow it to be either greater than He, or equal. But if it be greater, then It and not God is the Supreme Good ; while if it be equal, there are two, each of which is the Supreme Good ; and either conclusion is contrary to the Catholic Faith. We are of the same opinion respecting the greatness, the goodness, the righteousness, the wisdom of God, as respecting His Divinity, and I hold that they are all one in God and with God. For He is good from no other source or reason than that which makes Him great ; nor is He otherwise righteous and wise than He is great and good ; nor, in fact, is there any other source or reason for any of His attributes than there is for His Divinity. He is in His own Self the Source of all.

7. But the heretic says : ‘ What ? Do you deny that He is God by His Divinity ?' No ; but I maintain that the same Divinity by which He is God is God Himself, that I may not be obliged to allow that there is anything more excellent than God. For I say also that He is great by greatness, but is Himself that greatness, that I may not rank anything as greater than God. And I confess that He is good by goodness, but that this goodness is no other than Himself, that I may not seem to recognise anything as better than He ; and so with all other attributes. It is with gladness and confidence that I am going onward in the path of truth, that I adopt the conclusion of him who said : ' God is great with no other greatness than that which He Himself is ; for otherwise that greatness would be greater than God. ' This was Augustine, the strongest hammer who has ever crushed heretics. If, then, any such thing may be properly said of God, it may more fitly and correctly be asserted that God is greatness, goodness, righteousness, wisdom, than to say God is great, good, righteous , or wise.

8. For this reason it was that in the Council lately held at Rheims by Pope Eugenius, that exposition made by Gilbert, Bishop of Poictiers, in his comment upon the words of Boethius' De Trinitate, which are themselves perfectly sound and orthodox, was deservedly adjudged by the Pope and the other Bishops to be perverse and altogether suspicious. For the Bishop commented upon them thus : ' The Father is Truth, that is, He is true ; the Son is Truth, that is, He is true ; the Holy Ghost is Truth, that is, He is true. And these Three together are not three truths, but one Truth ; that is to say, One Being who is true. ' O explanation obscure and perverse ! How much more appropriate and true it would be to say, on the contrary : ' The Father is true, that is, He is Truth ; the Son is true, that is, He is Truth ; the Holy Ghost is true, that is, He is Truth. And these Three are One Being who is true, that is, They are One Truth.' Which, indeed, he would have done had he deigned to imitate holy Fulgentius, who says : ' One only Truth of One God, or rather one Truth which is One God, does not allow the service and the worship which is due to the Creator to be rendered to a creature ' ( Lib. de Fide Orthod. ad Donat. , cap. 5). He was a good defender of the faith who spoke so truly of the Truth, who had opinions so pious and Catholic respecting the true and pure simplicity of the Divine Substance, in which there can be nothing which is not Itself, and Itself is God. That book of the Bishop beforenamed contained other passages which differed from the rectitude of the faith, one of which I will quote as an example. For where his author ( Boethius) says : 'When it is said, God, God, God, this refers to the Substance, ' our commentator adds : ' Not what the Substance is, but by what It is. ' But Godforbid that the Church Catholic should assent to that proposition that there is any substance or anything at all by which God is, and which is not God.

9. But it is not against him personally that I say these things, since he, in the same Council, acquiescing humbly in the opinion of the other Bishops, has condemned with his own mouth both these and other statements which were found worthy of blame ; but on account of those persons who are said to be still perusing and transcribing that book, against the apostolical prohibition promulgated at the same place, and who persist obstinately in following that Bishop in opinions which he has himself abandoned, preferring to have him for a master in his error, rather than in the correction of it. And we have spoken not only for them, but on your account I have thought it desirable to make this digression, taking occasion from our having to consider the difference between the Image [of the Word] and the soul which has been made in that Image, so that those who perhaps may at some time have drunk of those stolen waters, and have thought them pleasant ( Prov. ix. 17), may reject them by the taking of this antidote, and, being purged in the stomach of their soul, may listen to that which remains to be said, according to my promise, of the resemblance of the soul to the Word. Thus they shall draw with joy from purer fountains ; not mine, but those of the Saviour, the Bridegroom of the Church, Jesus Christ our Lord, who is above all, God blessed for ever. AMEN.

I T was not without good reason that the inquiry was made in the last discourse, what affinity there was between the human soul and the WORD. For what can there be in common between a Majesty so great and a poverty so extreme, that a greatness which is so exalted and a lowliness so humble should be said to be associated, as if upon an equality, in the manner and with the love of a pair who are espoused to each other ? For if we assert this with truth, then great is the reason for rejoicing and confidence ; but if falsely, then ours is an audacity to be greatly punished. And therefore it was necessary to inquire what was the affinity between these two, which, indeed, we have already ascertained in many respects, but not altogether. For who is so undiscerning as not to see the correspondence between the image and that which is formed after the pattern of that image ? We have shown in the sermon of yesterday, if you remember, both that the Word is the Image of God and that the soul is made in that image. And we have proved in that also the close relation between the soul and that Image of God, since not only is it made in that image, but also after the likeness of it. But we have not yet declared in every particular that in which this likeness principally consists. Let us now address ourselves to this task, so that the soul, recognising more fully what its origin is, may be filled with a noble shame to degenerate from it by an unworthy manner of living, or, rather, that it may study with earnest care what it shall recognise as being corrupted in itself by sin, and thus ruling itself by the help of God in a manner worthy of its origin, may be enabled to draw near with modest confidence to communion with the WORD.

2. Let it recognise, then, that from this original Divine likeness it draws a natural simplicity of substance, by which to be is to it the same as to live, although not always to live well or happily ; and in this it has a likeness to the Image of the WORD, though not an equality with It. This is a degree of relationship, but only a degree. That to live should be synonymous with living in perfect goodness and happiness is the supreme height of moral greatness, and to this height it does not attain. If, then, the WORD, because of His greatness, has this unique prerogative, and the soul, because of its likeness to the WORD, has the attribute that for it to exist is to have life, though it does not attain to the lofty perfectness of the WORD, yet the affinity of natures, and the privilege of the soul, are manifest herein. To express this more clearly : It is in God alone that ' to live ' is the same as ' to live in perfect goodness and happiness, ' and He is the Essence absolutely pure and absolutely Eternal. The second degree is that in which ' to exist is to have life ' ; this is the condition of the soul, and this is to be like unto God. From that degree, though a lower one, it is possible to ascend, not only to the life of goodness, but also to that of happiness ; not that, even for the soul that has attained to it, existence and goodness are one and the same, because, although the WORD glorifies it by His likeness, the disparity that ever exists between Him and it obliges it to say : Lord, who is like unto Thee ? (Ps. xxxv. 10) . Yet it is for the soul a promotion of extreme value, because from it, and from it alone, is it possible to ascend unto the life of blessedness.

3. There are two classes of beings which have life : those who are conscious of it, and those who are not conscious. The former rank above the latter, and above both the one and the other are those in whom life and thought are the same. Life, and that which lives, are not in the same degree ; much less are life, and those which live not. Life is, indeed, the soul which is living ; but it lives not other whence than from itself, and on this account we speak of it with propriety, not so much as living as being itself life. Thus it follows that the soul, when infused into a body, gives life to it; but that body does not, by the presence of life in it, become itself life, but living. From whence it clearly appears that it is not the same thing even to a living body to exist and to live, since it may exist and yet not live. Much less shall those things which are without life rise into this rank. It does not even follow that everything which is said to have life, or which has it in fact, will be able forthwith to attain to this point. There is a life of the lower animals, and a life of trees ; the former has consciousness, the latter is without it. Yet in neither is it the same thing to exist and to live, since, according to the opinion of many persons, their life has been in the elements before it was in the limbs of the one class, or the branches of the other. And, according to this view, when their life ceases to animate them, they cease to live, but they do not cease to exist. They are equally unloosed and dissolved, as if they were not merely bound together, but intertwined.2 For the life of these things is not simple in its nature, but compounded out of many elements. And therefore it is not reduced to nothingness, but separated into parts, of which each returns to that whence it had its origin ; for example, that which is of an airy nature to the air, that of a fiery nature to the fire, and the rest in like manner. To this kind of life, then, it is by no means the same thing to exist and to live, since when it does not live, it still exists.

4. Now, none of these things in which that is the case, can ever progress or rise into that higher life of goodness and blessedness, since they have not been able to attain even that grade which is below it. The soul of man alone can reach that higher life, inasmuch as it is seen to have been constituted as life by Him who is the Life, simple [in its nature] , by Him who is simple in His Essence, as He is Infinite, and immortal by Him who is Immortal ; so that it is not far from the supreme degree in which existence is identical with perfect happiness, in which He dwells for ever who alone is infinitely Blessed and infinitely Powerful, who is King of kings and Lord of lords. The soul, then, has received, by the condition in which it is, the power of attaining blessedness, though it is not now blessed ; and to that supreme grade it is advancing as much as it is able to do, yet without reaching it. For, as we have already said, even when it shall attain blessedness, yet that blessedness will not be to it the same thing as its life. We allow to it a resemblance ; we deny to it equality. For example, God is Life ; the soul also is life ; it is, then, like unto God, but it is not equal to Him. It is like unto Him, because it is life ; and its life is in itself, because it is not only living, but also lifegiving (vivens, vivificans), as also He is Himself all these things. But yet to Him it is unequal, inasmuch as a creature is unequal to its Creator. It is wholly unequal, inasmuch as neither would it have existed if it had not been created by Him, nor would it live unless He bestowed life upon it. It would not live, I say ; that is, in the spiritual life, not the natural. For it lives immortally in the natural life, and that necessarily, even though spiritually it does not live. But of what kind is that life, in which it would be better not to have been born, than not to have the power to die ? It is rather death than life, and that a death the more cruel, as it is the effect of sin, not of nature. For the death of the wicked is very evil (Ps. xxxiv. 22, Douay). The soul, then, which lives according to the flesh is dead while it lives, since it were good for it not to live at all rather than to live in such a manner. And, indeed, from that living death it can have no resurrection ever, except through the word of life ; or, rather, through Him who is the Word, who is the Life, and bestows life.

5. But, farther, the soul is immortal ; and in this respect also it is like unto the Word, but not equal to Him. For the immortality of the Divine Nature is so far above, and surpassing every other, that the Apostle says of God : Who only hath immortality ( 1 Tim. vi. 16). Which is spoken of Him, as I think, because He alone is unchangeable in and by His Nature who says : I am the Lord; I change not (Mal. iii. 6) . For the immortality which is true and perfect is no more susceptible of change than it is of ending, since every change is a likeness of death, and an anticipation of it. Everything which changes, in passing from one state to another, necessarily dies, so to speak, to that which it is, in order to begin to be that which it is not. If, then, there are as many deaths as there are changes, where is the immortality ? And to this vanity everything created is made subject, not willingly, but by reason of Him who hath subjected the same in hope (Rom. viii. 20). And yet the soul is immortal, because its life is in itself, and as it cannot fall away from itself, so it cannot fall away from its life. But since it is plain that in thoughts and feelings it is subject to change, while it recognises in its immortality its likeness to God, it ought also to recognise how far, indeed, it falls short in comparison with Him to whom alone complete and perfect immortality belongs, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning ( James i. 17). Yet the present discussion has shown that the dignity of the soul is by no means small, since it appears to draw near to the nature of the Word in two respects : in the simplicity of its essence, and the endlessness of its life.

6. But there is still another resemblance which occurs to me, and which I will by no means pass over, for it contributes no less than the other particulars to the greatness of the soul, and perhaps renders it even more like unto the WORD. This is Freedom of the Will, a quality plainly Divine, and which shines forth in the soul like a jewel set in gold. It is by this that there is in the soul the power of distinguishing and the freedom of choosing between good and evil, that is , between life and death, between light and darkness, and other things similarly opposed, which present themselves before the consciousness of the soul. That eye of the soul is a close discerner and authoritative judge between opposed alternatives ; as a clearsighted observer it discerns, as a free and independent judge it decides. On this account its decision is said to be free, because it is open to be influenced by the determination of the will, and can carry out the decision when made, into action. Thence also is man capable of merit. For every action done by you, and which you were free to do or to leave undone, is rightly imputed to you for merit or demerit, according as it is good or evil. And as a person is rightly praised, both he who, having it in his power to do evil, has not done it, and he who, being free not to do good, has, nevertheless, done it ; so also a person is justly blamed who, being able not to do evil actions, has done them, or to do good ones, has not done them. For where there is no liberty of action there is no merit. On this account it is that animals, which are without reason, have likewise no merit, because they are wanting both in freedom [of will] and in the power of deliberation and judgment. They are directed by the leadings of their senses, carried away by their impulses, and are under the dominion of their appetites. For they have not the power of judgment, by which to reflect upon their actions or control them ; nor, indeed, have they the faculty of forming a judgment, that is, reason ; and they are not judged, because they are not capable of forming a judgment. How can creatures who have not received the gift of reason be reasonably called to account for their actions ?

7. Man alone is not put under a constraint by his nature, and therefore man alone among living beings is free. And yet he also, by the intervention of sin, suffers a kind of violent constraint ; but this arises not from his nature, but from his own will, and he is not thereby deprived of the liberty which is natural to him. For that which is done voluntarily is done freely. And, indeed, it is by sin it is brought about that the corruptible body weighs upon the soul ; but this is not by its own weight, but by its love for that which is amiss. For that the soul which was capable of falling by its own action is not capable of rising again by its own action is the fault of the will, which, being weakened and prostrated by the corrupted and vicious affections of the corrupt body, is no longer capable of an equal love for righteousness. And thus, I know not how, it happens that the will, having fallen by sin into a state so changed and miserable, imposes upon itself a strange and sad necessity, and that of such a kind, that being voluntary, it forms no excuse for the will, while the will, being led away by the false good which attracts it, has no power of resisting the necessity, a voluntary necessity, if it may be so called . For there is a pleasing violence, which overcomes by flattering, and flatters while overcoming ; and then the will, become a traitor to itself, and having once consented to that which is evil, is no longer able to free itself by its own strength, yet can found no reasonable excuse upon its own weakness. From thence comes that complaint of one who groaned under the yoke of that necessity : O Lord, I am oppressed : undertake for me ( Is. xxxviii. 14). But knowing, on the other hand, that he could not justly make complaint against the Lord, when it was his own will that was in fault, take notice of what he adds : What shall I say, or what shall He answer for me, when I myself have done it ? 1 He was weighed down by a heavy yoke, but it was the yoke of a voluntary servitude ; and that servitude excited pity, but the assent ofhis will to it rendered it inexcusable. For it was the will which, when it was free, made itself the slave of sin by consenting to sin, and it was also the will which, by submitting itself to sin, made the servitude a willing one.

8. Some one, perhaps, will thus reply to me : ' Take heed of what you say. Do you call that voluntary, which it is plain to all the world is done under constraint ? It is true that the will has rendered itself subject, but it does not remain in that state of subjection willingly ; it is held captive in spite of itself.' Very good ; you allow at least that it is held captive. But consider that it is the will of which you say this. Do you assert, then, that the will is not willing ? But the will is not constrained against itself. It is not will at all unless it wills. The word expresses the action of one who exercises a power of determining, not of one who has no such power to exercise. If the will is constrained willingly it constrains itself. What, then, shall it answer, or what excuse shall it make to God, since its action is its own ? What has it done? It has made itself a servant . Wherefore it is said : Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin (John viii. 34). On this account, when it has sinned (and it has sinned when it has determined to obey a sinful impulse) it has made itself a servant of sin. But it becomes free if it no longer does the bidding of sin. But while it chooses to abide in the same servitude it goes on following the temptation to sin. Yet it is not retained in bondage unwillingly, from the very fact that it is the will. If, then, it has made itself a slave voluntarily, it is also voluntarily that it remains in its bondage. What, then, shall it reply in excuse for itself, since its servitude (and this is always to be borne in mind) has been, and is, its own doing.

9. ' But you will not make me disbelieve ' (says an objector) ' in the necessity under which I labour, which I experience in my own self, and against which I continually struggle. ' Where, then, I ask, do you feel this constraint ? Is it not in your will ? You do not, then, will with too little strength what you will of necessity. You will strongly what you are unable not to will, whatever strength of resistance you exert. Now, where there is the power to will, there is liberty. And in saying this I refer to the liberty which is by nature, not that which is spiritual and by grace ; namely, that liberty wherewith, as says the Apostle, Christ hath made us free (Gal. v. 1 ). And the same Apostle, speaking of that liberty, says : Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty ( 2 Cor. iii. 17). It is thus that the soul is at the same time free, and enslaved by this necessity which, as unhappily as strangely, is voluntarily incurred ; free, by the possession of the power of will, and enslaved, by the pressure of necessity. And farther, which is at once stranger and more deplorable, it is guilty because it is free, and a slave because it is guilty ; and thus by a strange paradox is a slave because it is free. Unhappy man that I am, who shall deliver me from this servitude so shameful ? Unhappy I am indeed ; but I am free. Free, because I am a man ; unhappy, because a slave. Free, because I am in the likeness of God ; unhappy, because I am contrary to Him. O Thou Preserver of men ! why hast Thou set me as a mark against Thee ? (Job vii. 20). For indeed Thou hast in a sense done that, the doing of which Thou hast not hindered. But, in other respects, it is I who have set myself where I am, so that I am a burden to myself (Ibid.). It is indeed most just and right that he who is Thy enemy should be mine also, and that he who opposes Thee should oppose me too. In truth, I have become contrary to Thee and to my own self also, and I find in my members a revolt against my own soul and against Thy law. Who shall set me free from my own hands ? That which I would, that do I not ; and it is not another person, but my own self, who hinders me. So also that which I hate, that do I; and it is no other person, but my own self, who obliges me to do it. I would that this prevention on the one hand, and this compulsion on the other, were so violent that my actions ceased to be voluntary, for then perhaps I might be excused; or that it were so far voluntary that it was not violent, for so perhaps I might be corrected. But now no opening for escape appears on either side for me unhappy, whom, on the one hand, the assent of my will renders, as I have said, inexcusable ; and on the other, necessity renders incapable of being corrected. Who -shall deliver me from the hands of a sinner, from the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man ? (Ps. lxxi. 4).

10. Someone asks me, perhaps, ' Of whom am I complaining ?' Of myself. It is I who am that sinner, that man unrighteous and cruel. Asinner I am, for I have, in fact, sinned ; and unrighteous, because I persist voluntarily in violating the law of righteousness. For my will itself is as a law in my members warring against the Divine Law. And because the Law of the Lord is of right a law unto my soul, as it is written : The Law of his God is in his heart (Ps. xxxvii. 31), for that very reason it is that my will is found in opposition to my own self, which is the height of iniquity. For to whom am I not unjust, when I am unjust to myself? ' He that is evil to himself, ' it is said, ' to whom will he be good?' (Ecclus. xiv. 5). I am not good, I confess, [even to myself] , for in me is no good thing. Yet I am consoled for this, because even a saint said : I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) dwelleth no good thing ( Rom. vii. 18). Nevertheless he makes a distinction when he says, in himself, and explains that he means, in his flesh, ' because of the law of contradiction [to the Law of God] , which is in it. For that better law is also in the soul. Is not the Law of God good ? If, then, he is evil, because of the law of evil which is in him, why is he not good by reason of the law of good which is in him likewise ? Will you say that the law of evil is his own because it is in his flesh, and that therefore he is evil because his law is evil, and not also that he is good because of a law which is good ? That cannot be the case. The Law of God is in his soul, and so in his soul as to be the law of his soul. He is a witness of this, who says : Isee another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind (Rom. vii. 23). Is that his which is in his flesh, and not that which is in his soul? I say that it is his even more. Why should I not say what the same master of the spiritual life says : With the mind (that is, following the impulse of the spirit which is myself) I myself serve the law of God, but with theflesh the law ofsin (vii. 25) . He shows very clearly by those words, which law he regards as being his own, since he considers the evil which is in his flesh as being alien to him, for he says : It is no more I that do it [the evil] , but sin that dwelleth in me (vii. 20). And it is perhaps for that very reason that he has declared expressly that he found another law in his members, because he regarded it as foreign to him, and coming from without. Therefore I venture (yet not, I think, rashly) to add something more, that St. Paul was not a sinner on account of the evil which he had in his flesh ; but rather good on account of the good which he had in his soul. Is he not good who consents unto the law of God, that it is good ? For although he confesses that he is in captivity to the law of sin, this he does in the flesh, not in the soul. For with the mind he serves the law of God, though with the flesh the law of sin, and which of these two ought the rather to be attributed to St. Paul, you can easily judge. For my part, I confess that I have no difficulty in coming to the conclusion that that which was of the spirit was more truly his than that which was of the flesh ; and this is not my belief alone, but it was that of St. Paul himself, as is shown by what he has said, which I have quoted above : If I do that Iwould not, it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.

11. This will suffice respecting liberty. In the treatise which I have written on Grace and Free Will you will perhaps find other points discussed, in which the soul is made after the image and likeness of God ; but nothing, I think, contrary to what is said here. That treatise you have read, and what has just now been said you have heard ; which of the two you rather approve I leave to your judgment, and if there is anything in either which approves itself to you, in this I rejoice and will rejoice. However that may be, you will bear in mind that we have remarked upon three great qualities as distinguishing the nature of the soul : its simplicity of substance, its immortality, and its liberty of will. And I think that it will appear very clear to you that the soul, by these three points of resemblance in the qualities which are its birthright and are natural to it, has no small affinity to the WORD, the Bridegroom of the Church, JESUS CHRIST our Lord, who is above all, God blessed for ever. AMEN.

WHAT think you, my brethren ? Does it appear to you that we can go back and take up again the order of exposition from which we have digressed, since the affinity of the soul with the WORD, to establish which was the object of the digression, must be now quite clear to you ? We might do so, as it seems to me, only for one thing ; that there still remains, as I feel, some little obscurity in the various parts of the expositions which have been given. I do not wish to steal anything from you. I do not willingly pass over anything that I think would be useful to you. How could I dare to do so, especially of those truths which I receive only in order that I may communicate them to you ? I know a man who once, in the course of an address that he was making, held back some part of what the Holy Spirit suggested to him, not unfaithfully, but perhaps with a want of reliance on His aid for the future, with the purpose of reserving it for another occasion, that he might have something to say when treating on the same subject again ; and that man seemed to hear a voice, which said to him : ' As long as you shall withhold this you shall receive nothing else.'1 What if he had kept back this thought, not for the supply of… [text uncertain here — see note above]

2. There is, then, among the various observations that have been made, something which may, I fear, be a stumbling-block to you, unless it be made very clear. And, if I do not mistake, there are some standing here to whom what I wish to say may be the occasion of some scruple. That threefold likeness to the WORD, which we have assigned to the soul, or, rather, have observed that it was impressed upon the soul, do you remember that it appeared to us to inhere in it inseparably ? Now, does not that seem to conflict with some statements of Scripture, as, for example, with this out of the Psalms : Man that is in honour and understandeth not is like the beasts that perish (Ps. xlix. 12 , 20) ; and this : They changed their glory into the similitude of an ox that eateth grass (Ps. cvi. 20) ; and this, which is plainly stated in the Person of God : Thou thoughtest that Iwas altogether such an one as thyself (Ps. 1. 21 ) ; and many others, which seem to assert with one voice that, after the commission of sin, the likeness to God in man was altogether effaced ? What, then, shall we say to these statements ? That these three qualities are not in God, and that therefore we must seek for others, in which consist the resemblance that the soul has to Him ? or that they are indeed in God, but are not in the soul, so that in these respects it has no resemblance to God ? or that, though they are in the soul, they are not in it necessarily, and therefore are not inseparable from it ? God forbid that either of these alternatives should be the fact. These qualities are in God; they are also in the soul, and are in it always. Nor have we any reason to repent of what has been stated upon these points, since it is founded on certain and indubitable truth. But when the Scripture speaks of the unlikeness of man to God which has been brought about, it does so, not because that likeness which previously existed was effaced, but because another has been laid over it. The soul has plainly not put off its original form, but has put on over it one which is foreign to it. The latter is added, but the former is some subject, and a thought came to him which, though it would have been in place at the time, he proposed to himself to reserve till the end, where he thought he should be in want of matter, and he heard a voice saying to him, " If you keep back this, nothing else shall be given to you. " " ' So truly was it , ' says Manrique, ' not he that spake, but God in him. ' See on the same subject, Sermon in Cantic. , xviii. , n.

2. THE SOUL'S not lost ; and that which is subsequent may hide the earlier and natural lineaments of the soul, but cannot obliterate them. Thus it is said by the Apostle : Theirfoolish heart was darkened ( Rom. i . 21 ), and by a prophet : How is the gold become dim, how is the most fine gold changed ! ( Lam. iv. 1 ). The gold laments that it has become dim, but it still remains gold ; its beautiful colour has changed, but the ground of the colour is not fundamentally changed. The pure and simple nature of the soul remains unshaken in its essential character, but it is concealed from view by a thick film of human fraudfulness, and pretence, and hypocrisy.

3. How incongruous is the mixture of duplicity with the natural simplicity of the soul ! What an unworthy action to raise a structure so poor on a foundation so precious ! It was with this duplicity that the serpent concealed his cunning purpose when, in order to deceive the first woman, Eve, he took upon himself the character of an adviser, and pretended to be her friend. It was with this that the first dwellers in the earthly Paradise, after they had been led into disobedience by him, endeavoured to conceal their nakedness and shame by the shelter of a leafy tree, by girdles of leaves, and by words of excuse (Gen. iii. 7, 8, 12 , 13). From that time and thenceforward the poison of hypocrisy has spread deeply and widely, and has infested the whole of their posterity. Whom is there of all the children of Adam who, I will not say wishes the entire truth in every instance to appear, but even suffers it to do so ? Nevertheless, the fundamental truthfulness of the soul persists [in conflict] with original duplicity in every soul, and confusion is increased by the simultaneous presence of the two ; and its immortality also continues, but an immortality shadowed and rendered sombre by the encroaching clouds of the death which belongs to the body. For although it is not deprived of life, it is unable to claim the full benefit of that life for its body. But of the soul which does not hold fast its own spiritual life, what shall I say ? For the soul that sinneth it shall die (Ezek. xviii. 4). Does not that twofold death into which it falls , render the immortality (of what kind soever it may be) which it still retains, gloomy and unhappy to the last degree ? Add to this that the desires which it has for earthly things (which, indeed, all tend towards its destruction) render still more dense the clouds and darkness in which it is enveloped, so that a soul existing in such a state has, as it were, a countenance pallid and deathlike, nay, the very image of death. Why does not the soul, being immortal, desire things which are eternal and immortal like itself, so as to appear that which it really is, and to live that life for which it was intended ? But it delights in and seeks for things which are quite contrary to these ; it conforms itself to things which are mortal and perishable, by leading a life far degenerated from the nobleness of its nature, and blackens, as it were, the glory of its immortality by daily converse with, and preference for, things which are dingy and defiled. How can a longing desire for mortal things fail to assimilate the immortal to mortality and make it unlike to itself ? For ' He,' saith the Wise Man, ' that toucheth pitch shall be defiled therewith ' ( Ecclus. xiii. 4). In the enjoyment of things that are mortal it is itself clothed with mortality, and though it does not put off its robe of immortality, it dims the brightness of it by the stains and similitudes of death.

4. Consider, for instance, how Eve, by attaching herself to things that were mortal, though herself an immortal soul, soiled the glory of her immortality by the mould of mortal things. Since she was immortal, why did she not contemn things that were perishing and transitory, and content herself with those that were unchangeable and eternal, similar to her own nature ? She saw, saith the Scripture, that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise ( Gen. iii . 6). That beauty, O woman, that sweetness, that desirableness, is not thine ; and if it belongs to thee because thou art in part made of the dust of the earth, is not thine alone, but thou hast it in common with all the living creatures of the earth. That which is truly thine is of another nature, and comes from another source ; it is eternal, and comes from eternity. Why dost thou set upon thy soul another likeness, or, rather, a deformity which is strange to it ? For what it desires to possess, that it fears to lose ; and that fear is a kind of colour, which stains its free will, which hides it, and renders it like unto itself. How much more worthy of its origin would it be that it should desire nothing, so that it should fear nothing ; and that, thus guarding its inborn freedom from servile fear, it should remain in its pristine beauty and strength ! Alas ! it is not so ; its perfect hue has faded. Thou dost fly, and hidest thyself ; when thou hearest the voice of the Lord God thou lurkest in a hiding-place. Why is this, but that Him whom thou didst once love, now thou dost fear ; and that a slavish fear has taken the place of the beauty of thy freedom ?

5. That necessity voluntarily incurred, and that law of contradiction imposed upon the members (of which I have spoken in another discourse), weighs upon the same liberty, and at the same time allures and enslaves by means of its own will, a creature free by nature ; covers it with confusion and ignominy, so that it obeys, though unwillingly, the law of sin which is in its flesh. Because, then, it has neglected to guard the original nobleness of its nature by innocency of life, it has followed, by the just judgment of its Creator, that it is not stripped of the freedom which belongs to it, but clad with its own confusion as with a mantle (Ps. cix. 29). Well is it said, as with a mantle, that is, a garment which is folded or doubled (diploide), because while its liberty remains, that being necessarily inherent in the will, yet its manner of conduct, which is servile, imposes upon it constraint and necessity. The same thing may be remarked of the simplicity of the soul, as of its immortality ; and if you observe closely you will find nothing in that also which is not covered, as it were, with a double mantle of likeness and unlikeness. Is not that like a doubled mantle, where deceit is not inborn, but is laid upon truthful THE SOUL'S ness, is attached and, as it were, sewn to it by the sharp needle of sin ; as also death to immortality, and necessity to freedom ? For this duplicity of disposition does not destroy the essential truthfulness of the soul, nor does death, whether it be the voluntary death of sin, or the necessary death of the body, disprove the immortality of the soul by its nature ; nor, again, does the necessity which follows a voluntary servitude destroy the freedom of the will. Thus these evils are adventitious ; they do not follow from the good gifts which are natural, but are superinduced upon them ; they disfigure , without destroying them ; and trouble their action, though they do not nullify it. Thence it is that the soul is unlike to God, and unlike even to itself; thence it is that it is compared unto beasts that perish, and made like unto them ( Ps. xlix. 12, 20) ; thence it is that, as we read, they have changed their glory into the similitude of an ox that eateth grass (Ps. cvi. 20) ; thence it is that men, like foxes, have winding earths, as it were, of duplicity and fraud ; and, as they have made themselves like unto foxes, shall have the destiny of foxes ; for, according to the saying of Solomon, that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts : even one thing befalleth them ( Eccles. iii. 19). Why should not one who has lived like the beasts have a death like theirs ? He has attached himself to earthly things, and delighted in them, like the beasts ; like the beasts also he must leave them. And there is still another point. What wonder is it that we should go forth from this life similarly to the beasts, since we come into it in a similar manner ? Whence is it, except from their resemblance to the lower animals, that there is in human creatures so much ardour in the indulgence of the passions, so much pain in parturition ? Thus it is that the human creature, in his conception and his birth, in his life and his death, is compared unto the beasts that perish, and made like unto them.

6. What shall I say of the fact that a creature who is free does not subdue appetite and rule it as a queen, but, on the contrary, follows and obeys it as a servant ? Does not such a creature rank itself among animals without reason, and make itself like unto them whom their nature has not called to liberty, but has placed in a state of servitude, to follow and obey their lusts and appetites ? Is it not with justice that God is revolted at being considered and represented as like unto a man such as this ? And therefore it is that He says : Thou thoughtest [ wickedly] that I was altogether such an one as thyself; and declares, Iwill reprove thee, and set thee in order before thine eyes (Ps. 1. 21). It is not for a soul that sees and knows itself, to think that God is like unto it, especially such a soul as mine, which is unrighteous and a sinner. For it is to such that the stern accusation is addressed : ' Thou thoughtest, O wicked one,' not ' O soul, ' or ' O man, ' that I was altogether such an one as thyself. But if the wicked one be set, as it were, before his own eyes, and made to stand face to face, if I may so speak, with the ghastly and discoloured countenance of his inner man, so that he cannot avoid beholding the manifold uncleanness of his conscience, nor ignore it when beheld ; but, on the contrary, recognizes, even against his will, the defilement of his sins, and the deformity of his vices ; then he will by no means be able to think that God is like unto him ; nay, the difference which he will see will be so great that I think he will be driven to cry, Lord, who is like unto Thee ? (Ps. xxxv. 10), which, indeed, was spoken with reference to that voluntary and novel unlikeness. For the first resemblance still remains ; and it is that which renders the later unlikeness still more displeasing. Oh, how great a good is the one, and how great an evil the other ! And by the close contact and contrast of the two the effect of each in its kind is heightened.

7. When the soul discerns in itself two things so different and so opposed, how can it do otherwise than cry out, between hope and despair : Lord, who is like unto Thee ? By so great an evil it is drawn towards despair, but by so great a good it is recalled towards hope. Thence it is that the more it is offended by the evil which it beholds in itself, the more ardently it aspires to the good which it also descries, and the more it desires to become wholly like unto Him in whose image it has been formed ; that is to say, to be simple, upright, fearing God, and departing from evil. Why should it not be able to depart from that which it has been able to approach, or to draw near to that from which it has been able to withdraw ? Yet for either of these movements, I must not omit to say, grace must be relied upon, not nature, nor even laborious effort. For it is wisdom that prevails over vice ( Wisd. vii. 30), not nature nor labour. Nor is ground for hope wanting, for it is the WORD to whom it turns for help. The noble relationship of the soul to the Word, and the enduring likeness which it has to Him, of which, during the last three days, I have been discoursing, is not barren or ineffective with the WORD. He deigns to admit into the fellowship of His Spirit that which is like unto Him by nature. Like seeks like assuredly, according to the natural order. Listen to His voice as He calls to the soul : Return, return, O Shulamite : return, return, that we may look upon thee ( Cant. vi. 13). He would not look upon her while she was unlike unto Him, but when she shall be in His likeness will behold her, and admit her also to the vision of Himself. For we know that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him ; for we shall see Him as He is ( 1 John iii. 2). Believe, then, that when it is inquired : Lord, who is like unto Thee ? the words refer rather to a thing that is difficult than to one which is absolutely impossible.

8. Or, if you prefer to take it thus, it is a cry of admiration . Assuredly it is a likeness wonderful and admirable, which accompanies the vision of God, or, rather, it is that vision itself. For I understand this of the vision which is brought about by love, for in love is that vision and that likeness. Who does not stand amazed at the great love of God in recalling to Himself a soul by which He has been scorned ? It is with justice, then, that that wicked one, who was represented in a former sermon as usurping to himself the like THE SOUL'S ness of God, is severely censured, since in loving iniquity he is not able to love either himself or God, as it is written : He that loveth iniquity hateth his own soul (Ps. x. 6, Douay). The iniquity, then, which is in part the cause of the unlikeness between God and the soul, being taken out of the way, there shall be between them a spiritual union perfect and entire, a mutual discernment and vision, a reciprocal love. When that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away, and there shall be between God and the soul a perfect and consummated affection, a full knowledge, a vision manifest, a fırın union, an indivisible society, a perfect similitude. Then the soul shall know, even as also it is known ( 1 Cor. xiii. 10, 12 ) ; then shall it love even as it is loved, and the Bridegroom shall rejoice over the Bride, because knowledge and love are reciprocal between them. He is JESUS Christ our Lord, who is above all, God blessed for ever. AMEN.

I HAVE, during three days, devoted myself, as far as the time prescribed by our rule for me to address you would permit, to show you the close relation and resemblance of the soul to the WORD. What usefulness is there in all that endeavour ? There is this. We have shown that every soul, though it may be burdened with sins, caught in the net of evil habits, taken captive by the allurements of sinful pleasures ; though it be as a captive in exile, confined in the body as in a prison, submerged and fixed fast in mud and clay, closely bound to its members, weighed down by cares, absorbed in business, saddened by fears, afflicted by sorrows, led astray by errors, anxious because of forebodings, uneasy through suspicions, and, lastly, an alien on the earth, in which it finds so many enemies, and, according to the saying of a prophet, defiled with the dead and counted with them that go down into hell (Baruch iii. 11 ) ; although a soul, I say, be thus under condemnation and thus despairing, yet, as I have shown, it is able to find in itself, not only reason for breathing freely in the hope of mercy and forgiveness, but also for daring to aspire to the heavenly nuptials of the Word ; nor does it fear to enter into alliance with God, and to bear the sweet yoke of love with Him who is the King of Angels. For why should it not venture to come confidingly into the presence of Him by whose image and likeness it sees and knows that it is still honoured and ennobled ? Why should even a Majesty so great be a cause of distrust to a being to whom its own origin gives a ground for confidence? All that it has to do is to preserve with care the original purity of its nature by a pure and honourable life ; or, rather, to study to adorn and embellish by good and virtuous thoughts and actions, as by rich colours, that illustrious image which has been impressed upon the depths of its nature at its creation.

2. Why, then, does it remain inactive ? Labour and industry are assuredly a great gift of nature ; and if we do not employ it to its fullest extent, will not all those good inclinations which are left in us by nature be hindered in their working, or remain, as it were, inactive and powerless ? This would indeed be an injury to the Creator. That is the reason why God our Creator has willed to preserve always in the soul a clear sign of its Divine origin, so that it should be continually admonished by the resemblance which it has to the WORD, either to remain with Him, or to return to Him, if it has been induced by any motive to quit His Presence. It does not leave Him, as by change of place, or by steps taken with the feet ; but it leaves Him in the manner of a spiritual substance, that is to say, by its purposes and affections, when it renders itself unlike Him, and degenerates from the nobleness of its origin, by the evil of its conduct and life, and thus becomes distinctly worse. That unlikeness, nevertheless, does not amount to an abolition of its nature ; but it is a grave fault, for good raises up nature as much by comparison with itself, as by conjunction [with evil ] it is defiled. But this return of the soul is its conversion, that is, its turning to the WORD ; to be reformed by Him, and to be rendered conformable to Him. In what respect ? In charity. For it is written : Be ye followers of God, as dear children : and walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us (Eph. v. 1 , 2).

3. It is that conformity which makes, as it were, a marriage between the soul and the WORD, when, being already like unto Him by its nature, it endeavours to show itself like unto Him by its will, and loves Him as it is loved by Him. And if this love is perfected, the soul is wedded to the Word. What can be more full of happiness and joy than this conformity ? what more to be desired than this love ? which makes thee, O soul, no longer content with human guidance, to draw near with confidence thyself to the WORD, to attach thyself with constancy to Him, to address Him with confidence, and consult Him upon all subjects, to become as receptive in thy intelligence, as fearless in thy desires. This is the contract of a marriage truly spiritual and sacred. And to say this is to say too little ; it is more than a contract, it is a communion, an identification with the Beloved, in which the perfect correspondence of will makes of two, one spirit. Nor is it to be feared that the inequality of the two who are parties to it should render imperfect or halting in any respect this concurrence of wills ; for love has no respect of persons. It is from affection, not from reverence, that it is named love. Let one who is struck with horror, with astonishment, with fear, with admira tion, rest satisfied with honouring ; but in one who loves all these feelings are merged in affection. Love is filled with itself ; and in the soul to which it has once come, it overcomes and transforms all other feelings. Therefore the soul which loves, in loving, is regardless of all else. He who justly deserves to be honoured and admired, and regarded as a miracle of perfectness, yet loves rather to be loved. They are Bridegroom and Bride. What other bond or constraining force do you seek for between spouses, than to love and to be loved ? This bond overcomes even that which nature has drawn most closely, namely, the bond between parents and children. For this cause, says the Saviour in the Gospel, shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife (Matt. xix. 5). You see how powerful is this feeling in those who are wedded; not only does it prevail over all other feelings, but even over itself.

4. It is to be added that this Bridegroom is not only loving, He is Himself Love. Is He not also Honour? Anyone who pleases may maintain that He is ; but I have not, in fact, read any such thing. I have read that God is Love ( 1 John iv. 16) ; not that He is honour, or dignity ; though it is not to be understood that God does not desire to be honoured, for He says : If I be a Father, where is Mine honour? He says that as a Father. But if He declares Himself to be a Bridegroom, will He not change the word, and say : ' If I be a Bridegroom, where is the love that is due to Me?' For he had previously said : If I be a Master, where is Myfear ? (Mal. i. 6). God, then, requires that He should be feared as Lord, honoured as Father, but as Bridegroom, loved. Which of these three is highest and most to be preferred ? Surely it is love. Without it fear is painful, and honour without attraction. Fear is servile as long as it is not rendered free by love ; and honour which is not inspired by love is not truly honour, but flattery. Certainly honour and glory are due to God, and to Him alone ; but neither of these will He receive, if they be not, as it were, seasoned with the honey of love. Love is alone sufficient by itself; it pleases by itself, and for its own sake. It is itself a merit, and itself its own recompense. It seeks neither cause, nor consequence, beyond itself. It is its own fruit, and its own object and usefulness. I love, because I love ; I love, that I may love. Love, then, is a great reality, and very precious, provided that it recurs to the principle on which it rests, that it is kept in continual relation with Him who is its origin, and draws from that pure source waters that flow continually in greater abundance. Of all the feelings, affections, and movements of the soul, love is the only one by which the reasonable creature is able to respond to its Creator, and even in some sort to repay, though not upon equal terms, the goodness which it has received from Him. For example, if God is displeased with me, should I be at liberty to feel displeasure towards Him ? Certainly not : I tremble, and humble myself before Him, and entreat His pardon. So also, if He accuses me, He is not to be accused by me in return, but the justice of His accusation is to be instantly recognised. Nor, if He shall judge me, will I judge, but will adore. When He saves me, He does not ask of me salvation in return ; nor does He who restores freedom to all need that He should Himself be freed. If He exercises the authority which He has over me, my part is to do Him service ; if He commands, my duty is to obey ; and it is not for me to require of the Lord either the service, or the obedience, that I properly render to Him. Now, you see what a great difference there is in all these respects with regard to love! For when God loves us, He desires nothing else than to be loved, because He loves us that He may be loved by us, knowing that those who love Him become blessed by their love itself.

5. Love, then, is a great reality, but there are degrees in it. The Bridegroom stands highest of all. For though children have affection for their parents, yet they think of their heritage, and in the fear of losing that, they have more respect than love for him from whom they expect it. That love I hold in suspicion which seems to be produced only by the hope of acquiring something. It is weak ; for if that hope bewithdrawn, it is either extinguished altogether, or greatly diminished. It is impure, since it is founded on the hope of something else. Love that is pure is not mercenary ; it does not draw strength from hope, nor is it weakened by distrust. This is the love which is felt by the Bride, because all that she is is only love. The very being of the Bride, and her only hope, consists in love. In this the Bride abounds; with this the Bridegroom is content. He seeks nothing else from her ; she has nothing but this to give. Thence it is that He is Bridegroom, and she is Bride. This belongs exclusively to a wedded pair, and to it none other attains, not even a son. For He cries out to His sons : Where is My honour? and does not say : ' Where is My love?' reserving the prerogative of the Bride. Thus we see that a man is bidden to honour his father and his mother ( Deut. v. 16), and no mention is made of love ; not because parents are not to be loved by their children, but because many children are disposed more to honour parents than to love them. It is true that the honour of a king loves judgment (Ps. xcix. 4) ; but the love of the Bridegroom, or rather of the Bridegroom who is Himself Love, requires only love and faithfulness in return. Let it, then, be permitted to the Bride to love in return. How could she do otherwise who is the Bride, and the Bride of Love ? How can Love fail to be loved ?

6. Rightly, then, does she renounce all other affections, and devote herself wholly and entirely to Him who is Love, since she can make return to Him by a love which is reciprocal. For when she has poured herself forth entirely in love, what would that be in comparison with the everflowing and inexhaustible source of love ? Not with equal fulness of resource flows that stream from Love and from the creature that loves Him, from the soul and from the WORD, the Bridegroom and the Bride, the Creator and the creature; and the thirsty wayfarer might as well be compared with the fountain that satisfies his thirst. What then ? Shall the vow of the Bride, the deep aspirations of her heart, her loving ardour and undoubting confidence, perish and become of none effect because she is unable to contend with a Giant who runs His course, to dispute the palm of sweetness with honey, of gentleness with the lamb, of whiteness with the lily, of brilliance with the sun, or of charity with Him who is Himself Charity and Love ? No. For although, being a creature, she loves less than He by whom she is loved, because she is less ; yet if she loves with her whole self, nothing can be wanting where the whole being is offered. Wherefore, as I have said, to feel such love as this constitutes a spiritual marriage between the soul and the Word, since it is not possible for a soul to love thus, and yet not to be greatly loved; and in the consent of the two parties consists a perfect marriage. Unless anyone should feel a doubt whether the soul is not first loved, and with a greater affection, by the WORD. Assuredly, it is both anticipated in loving, and surpassed in love. Happy is the soul whose favoured lot it is to be prevented with the benediction of a delight so great ! Happy the soul to which is granted to experience the delight of that communion so sweet, which is nothing else than a love holy and pure, sweet and delightful, as calm as it is sincere : a love mutual, endearing, powerful, which makes of two, by their close union, not, indeed, one flesh, but one spirit, as St. Paul declares : He that isjoined unto the Lord is one Spirit ( 1 Cor. vi. 17) . And now upon these subjects let us listen to her whom that unction which teaches of all things, and a frequent experience, has rendered more learned than all others in this mystery. Though perhaps it will be better to defer that subject to the beginning of another sermon, so that we may not confine an important matter within the limits of a sermon just upon the point of closing. So, then. if you approve, I will break off this discourse before reaching the end of the subject, in order that to-morrow we, as souls that are a-hungered, may assemble in good time to taste with eagerness those delights which it is the exceeding great reward of the holy soul to enjoy from the Word, and with the WORD, who is her Bridegroom, JESUS CHRIST our Lord, who is above all, God blessed for ever. AMEN.

IT is a great good to seek God. I think that, among all the blessings of the soul, there is none greater than this. Itis the first of the gifts of God; the last degree of the soul's progress. By no virtue is it preceded; to none does it give place. To what virtue is that added which is not preceded by any ? And to which should that give way which is the consummation of all virtues ? For what virtue can be ascribed to him who is not seeking God, or what limit prescribed to one who is seeking Him ? Seek His Face evermore (Ps. cv. 4), says the Psalmist ; nor do I think that when a soul has found Him, it will cease from seeking. God is sought, not by the movement of the feet, but by the desires of the heart ; and when a soul has been so happy as to find Him, that sacred desire is not extinguished, but, on the contrary, is increased. Is the consummation of the joy the extinction of the desire ? It is rather to it as oil poured upon a flame ; for desire is, as it were, a flame. This is, indeed, the case. The joy will be fulfilled ; but the fulfilment will not be the ending of the desire, nor therefore of the seeking. But think, if you can, of this earnest love of seeking God as being without any deprivation of Him, and of the desire for Him as without anxiety or trouble of mind. His Presence excludes the one, and the abundance of His graces prevents the other.

2. But now observe why I have made these introductory remarks. It is that every soul among you which is seeking God should know that it has been anticipated by Him, and has been sought by Him before it began to seek Him. For without this knowledge it might be that out of a great blessing might arise great harm, if, when it has been filled with the good gifts of the Lord, it treats those gifts as if they had not been received from Him, and so does not render to God the glory of them. It is, doubtless, in this way that some who appeared very great before men, because of the graces which had been conferred upon them, were counted as the least before God, inasmuch as they did not render back to Him the glory which was due on their account. But in saying this, I have used inadequate terms. To spare you, I have spoken of ' greatest ' and of ' least,' but I have not thus expressed my thought in all its force. I will make clearer the distinction which I have tried to mark. I cught to have said that he who is the best of men becomes in this way the worst. For it is a thing certain and without doubt that such a person becomes as blameable as he before was praiseworthy, if he ascribe to himself the praise of that which was excellent in him. For this is one of the worst of crimes. Someone will perhaps say, ' God forbid that I should be of that mind ; I fully recognize that by the grace of God I am what I am ; but suppose that a person should try to take for himself a little spark of glory for the grace that he has received, is he, therefore, a thief and a robber ? Let one who speaks thus listen to the words : Out of thine own mouth will Ijudge thee, thou wicked servant (Matt. xix. 22) . For what can be more wicked than the servant usurping to himself the glory which belongs to his Lord ?

3. By night on my bed I sought Him whom my soul loveth. The soul seeks the WORD, but it had been previously sought by the WORD. For otherwise, when it had been once driven out or cast forth from the presence of the WORD, it would have returned no more to obtain the sight of the good things it had lost if it had not been sought by the WORD. Oursoul, if abandoned to itself, is a spirit which goes to and fro, but does not return. Listen to a fugitive and wandering soul, and learn what it complains of, and what it seeks : Ihave gone astray like a lost sheep : seek Thy servant ( Ps. cxix. 176). O man, dost thou desire to return ? But if that depends upon thy own will, why dost thou entreat help ? Why dost thou ask for from another what thou hast in abundance in thy own self? It is plain that he does desire this, and is not able to perform it ; he is a spirit which goes to and fro, and returns not ; though he who has not even the wish to return is farther removed still. Yet I would not say that the soul which longs to return, and desires to be sought, is wholly exposed and abandoned. For from whence comes this willingness which is in it ? It comes, if I do not mistake, from its having been already sought and visited by the WORD ; nor is that visitation fruitless, since it has so worked in the soul as to produce that good will, without which a return would not be possible. But it does not suffice to be sought once only, so great is the languor of the soul, and so great the difficulty of the return. What if the will of a soul is to return ? The will lies inoperative, if it be not supported by the power to do so. For, to will is present with me, says the Apostle, but how to perform that which is good Ifind not ( Rom. vii. 18). What is it, then, that the Psalmist seeks in the passage which I have quoted ? He plainly seeks nothing else than to be sought : which he would not seek if he had not been sought ; and yet again, which he would not seek if he had been sought sufficiently. This latter grace, indeed, is what he entreats : Seek Thy servant ; that is, that what it has been granted to him to desire, it may be granted to him also perfectly to attain, according to the good pleasure of God.

4. Yet it does not seem to me that the present passage is capable of being applied to a soul such as this, which has not attained the second grace, and, though desiring to approach Him whom she loves, has not the ability to do so. For how can the words which follow be made to apply to such a soul ; namely, that she rises and goes about the city in the streets, and in the broad ways seeks her Beloved (iii. 2), seeing that she herself needs to be sought ? Let her do this as she is able ; only let her remember that, as she was first beloved, so she was first sought ; and to that she owes it that she herself loves and is engaged in seeking. Let us, too, pray, beloved, that those mercies may speedily anticipate us, for we are brought into extreme need of them. But I do not say this of you all ; for I know that very many of you are walking in the love wherewith Christ hath loved us, and are seeking Him in simplicity of heart. But there are some (I say it with sorrow) who have not yet given us any mark of this saving and preventing grace being in them, and therefore no sign of their salvation ; they are men who love their own selves, not the Lord, and seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.

5. Ihave sought, says the Bride, Him whom my soul loveth. It is to this that the goodness of Him who has anticipated you in seeking you and loving you first, it is to this that His goodness is calling and arousing you. You would not seek Him at all, O soul, nor love Him at all, if you had not been first sought and first loved. You have been anticipated by a twofold benediction, that of love and of seeking. The love is the cause of the seeking ; the seeking is the fruit and the clear proof of the love. You have been loved, so that you might not fear that you were sought for to be punished ; you were sought for, that you might not complain that you were loved to no purpose. Each of these two great and unmistakable favours has given you courage, has removed shyness and timidity, has touched your feelings, and disposed you to return. Hence arises that zeal and ardour in seeking Him whom thy soul loveth ; because, just as you were not able to seek Him, until you had first been sought, so now that you have been sought, you are not able to do otherwise than seek Him.

6. Again, never forget whence it is that you have come hither. And that I may apply the better to myself what has been said (which is the safer course), is it not thou, O my soul, who, having left thy first Bridegroom, by whose side all had been well with thee, hast broken the faith first pledged to Him, and gone after others ? And now that thou hast sinned with them to the full, and art perhaps fallen into contempt with them, dost thou impudently and with effrontery desire to return to Him, to whom thou hast behaved with so much pride and insolence ? What ? when thou art fit only to hide thyself, dost thou seek the light, and though more deserving of correction than favour, dare to run unto the Bridegroom ? Wonderful it will be if you do not find a Judge to condemn you instead of a husband to receive you. Happy is he who shall hear his soul replying to these reproaches : ' I do not fear because I love, and also I am loved ; nor could I have loved unless He had first loved me. Let those fear who have no love; but for the soul that loves there is nothing to be feared. How can those who have no love do otherwise than be under constant apprehension of injury ? But because I love, I no more doubt that I am loved than I doubt of my own love ; nor can I possibly fear His countenance, whose affection for me I have assuredly felt. In what have I felt it, doyou inquire ? In this : that not only has He sought me, unhappy as I am, but has caused me to seek Him, and to feel sure of succeeding in my search. Why should I not respond to Him in His search, to whom in His affection I respond ? Why should He be angry at my seeking Him, who, when I showed contempt for Him, forgave it ? He sought me when I contemned Him, why should He contemn me when I seek Him ? Benign and gentle is the Spirit of the WORD, and gentle is His greeting to me ; He makes me aware of His kindness towards me, He whispers to me and convinces me of the earnest love of the WORD for me, which cannot be hidden from Him. For He searcheth the deep things of God, and knows that the Divine thoughts are thoughts of peace, and not purposes of vengeance. How can I be otherwise than encouraged to seek Him, who have had experience of His clemency, and am persuaded of His reconciliation with me ? '

7. My brethren, to think seriously of these truths is to be sought by the WORD; to be persuaded of them is to be found by Him. But not all are capable of receiving that Word. What shall we do for the little children among us, I mean those who are still in the stage of beginners (incipientes), and yet are far from being without understanding ( insipientes), since they possess already the beginning of wisdom, being subject one to the other in the fear of Christ ? How, I say, shall we cause them to believe that the spiritual life of the Bride is marked by such experiences as these, since they know nothing as yet of such feelings themselves ? But I send them to one, to whom they cannot refuse credence. Let them read in a book [of Scripture] that which they fail to discern in the heart of a fellow man, and therefore will not believe. For it is written in one of the Prophets : Ifa man put away his wife, and she gofrom him, and become another man's, shall he return unto her again ? shall not that land be greatly polluted? but thou hast played the harlot with many lovers, yet return again to Me, saith the Lord (Jer. iii. 1) . They are the words of the Lord, and it is not permitted to doubt or hesitate. Let them believe what they have not experienced, that by the merit of their faith they may one day attain the fruit of experience. I think that now it has been sufficiently explained what it is to be sought by the WORD, and how this is necessary, not for the WORD, but for the soul, so that the soul which has experienced this knows Him both more fully and more happily. It remains to be treated of in the next discourse how souls that thirst for Christ seek Him by whom they have been sought ; or rather that we should learn that from her, who is brought before us in these verses, as seeking Him whom her soul loveth, Him who is the Bridegroom of the soul, JESUS CHRIST our Lord, who is above all, God blessed for ever. AMEN.

FOR what cause does she thus seek ? That has been already stated, and it would be superfluous to repeat it ; yet, for the sake of some who were not present when that question was treated, I will give a short summary of the causes, to which even those who were with us on the former occasion will not find it troublesome to listen. For not all that was to be said could be finished then. The soul seeks the Word, and accepts His correction with willingness and joy, so that she may obtain enlightenment and the knowledge of Him, that by His support she may attain to virtue, and be reformed according to wisdom, that she may be conformed unto His likeness and rendered by Him fruitful in good works, and, finally, may be happy in the enjoyment of His Presence. For all these causes the soul seeks the WORD. I do not doubt that there are many others, but in the meantime these are what occur to me. Anyone who is disposed to do so may easily discover others in himself. For our unhappinesses are many, the needs of our soul numerous and unlimited, and our anxieties uncounted. But more richly and fully still does the WORD superabound in good things, insomuch that He surpasses our badness by His wisdom, overcoming evil with good. And now hear the reason for these statements which I have made. In the first place, see how the soul consents, as I said first, to the Divine correction. We read that the Word speaks thus in the Gospel : Agree with thine adversary quickly, whiles thou art in the way with him, lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer ( Matt. v. 25) . What can be more prudent ? It is the advice of the WORD, who declares solemnly, if I do not mistake, that He is an adversary to us, because He opposes Himself to our carnal desires, as when He says : It is apeople that do err in their heart ( Ps. xcv. 10) . Thou, then, who hearest this, if thou shalt begin in a just fear to flee from the wrath to come, wilt be, I think, solicitous to know in what manner thou mayest agree with that adversary who seems to menace thee with a wrath so terrible. Now, that is impossible, unless thou shalt disagree with thyself, unless thou shalt become an adversary to thine own self, unless thou shalt combat with thyself in continual and untiring struggle ; in short, unless thou shalt renounce thy rooted habitudes and inborn affections. That is indeed a struggle hard and stern ; and if thou shalt attempt it in thy own powers alone, it is as if thou shouldst try to arrest a rushing torrent with a finger, or to make the river of Jordan flow backwards. What canst thou do, then ? Thou must seek the Word, by whose grace it is that thou art enabled to give a glad acquiescence to His will. Fly for help to Him who opposes thee [in evil], by whose help thou mayst become such that He will oppose thee no longer, that He who now threatens thee will approve and applaud thee, and that the grace which He imparts may be more effectual to transform thee than the most violent anger.

2. This is the first necessity, as I think, which brings the soul to seek the WORD. But if you know not what He, to whose will you have already given consent, really desires, will He not say of you that you have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge ? ( Rom. x. 2) . And that you may not think such ignorance a light thing, remember that which is written, that if any man know not he shall not be known ( 1 Cor. xiv. 38, Douay). Would you know what I should counsel you to do in this strait ? In the first place, my advice is that you should have recourse to the Word, and He will teach you His ways, for fear lest you, wishing to do good, but not knowing how, should only wander from the right road in your course, and go to and fro in a pathless wilderness. For the Word is Light, as it is said in the Psalms : The entrance of Thy words giveth light : it giveth understanding to the simple. Blessed art thou if thou also art able to say : Thy Word is a lamp unto myfeet and a light unto my path (Ps. cxix. 130, 105). In no small degree has your soul profited, if your will is changed and your reason enlightened, so that you are enabled both to desire that which is good and to recognise it when it appears to you. In the one gift your soul has received life ; in the other, vision. For the soul was dead when it willed that which was evil, and blind when it was ignorant of good.

3. Now your soul lives, now it sees, now it is established in good ; but all this is by the help and by the working of the Word. If it stands upright, it is because it has been lifted up by the hand of the WORD, and set, as it were, upon two feet, devotion and understanding. It stands upright, I repeat ; but yet let it take as spoken of itself that which is said : Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall ( 1 Cor. x. 12 ). Do you think that the soul, which was not able to arise by its own strength, will by its own strength be enabled to stand ? I should suppose not. What ? It was by the WORD of the Lord that the heavens were made ( Ps. xxxiii. 6), and shall a being which is but earth stand without Him ? If it were able to stand by itself, why was it that a man, formed also of the earth, prayed thus : Strengthen Thou me according unto Thy Word (Ps. cxix. 28) ? He had even experienced that he could not stand by himself, since he says : Being pushed, I was overturned that I might fall, but the Lord supported me (Ps. cxviii. 13, Douay). Does anyone inquire what it was that thus pushed ? It was not one only ; it was the devil, it was the world, it was perhaps some man. What man, do you rejoin ? In truth, every man is a tempter such as this to and for himself. Marvel not at this. To such a degree is every man a tempter to himself, and an occasion of falling, that you need not fear the temptation put before you by another person, if you can keep your own hands from working destruction to you. For who, says the Apostle, is he that will harm you, ifye be followers of that which is good ? ( 1 Peter iii. 13) . By your own hands I mean the consent of your will. If, when the devil suggests to you, or the world persuades you to do, anything which is not right, you refrain from giving an inward consent to it, nor allow your members to be the instruments of iniquity, then you have not permitted sin to reign in your mortal body ; in resisting the promptings of evil you have approved yourself the follower of good, and the temptation has done you good rather than harm. For it is written : Do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise ( Rom. xiii. 3). They are confounded who sought to harm your soul, and you shall sing : If they shall have no dominion over me, then shall Ibe without spot (Ps. xix. 14, Douay). You have shown yourself to be animated by a holy emulation if, under the guidance of wisdom, you have had affection for your own soul ( Ecclus. xxx. 23), if you have kept your heart with all diligence ( Prov. iv. 23), if, according to the precept of the Apostle, you have kept yourself pure ( 1 Tim. v. 22). Otherwise, even though you should gain the whole world, but suffer loss to your soul, we shall certainly, as the Saviour Himself teaches, regard you as not being a follower of that which is good.

4. There are, then, three adversaries by whom you are threatened. Of these the devil impels to evil by malice and jealousy, the world bythe tempest of vanity, while man himself is burdened by the weight of his own corruption. The devil impels you indeed to evil, but he does not overthrow you, if you do not give him your help by yielding assent to his wicked suggestions. Thus we read : Resist the devil, and he willflee from you ( James iv. 7). It is he who in his envy tempted and overthrew those who were upright in Paradise, for they did not resist him, but consented to his evil suggestions. It is he who, by his pride, cast himself down from the height of heaven, and that without impulse from any other ; thus you may learn what very grave cause man also, because of the weight by which he is oppressed in his own nature, has to fear that he may fall. The world also impels to evil, because it lieth in wickedness (1 John v. 19). Its impulse is felt by all, but it overthrows only those who are of it, that is, who are consentient with it in mind and will. I desire not to be the friend of the world, lest I fall. For he who desires to be a friend of this world becomes thereby an enemy of God, and this is the most calamitous fall it is possible to make. From this it appears that man is to himself the principal occasion of falling, since he can fall by his own impulse, and without any impulse from another person, but cannot fall without his own impulse, whatever instigation he may receive from others. Now, which of these three adversaries ought chiefly to be resisted ? Plainly, that one which is more importunate, as it is in more intimate relation with us, which is sufficient by itself to make us fall, and without which no other adversaries are able to effect anything against us. Not without cause does the wise man declare : He that ruleth his spirit is better than he that taketh a city (Prov. xvi. 32). This is of great importance to you ; you have need of great strength, and of that strength with which you can be endued only from on high. That strength, if it be perfect, will easily render the soul victorious over itself, and, consequently, invincible by all other adversaries. For it is a spiritual strength, which knows not how to yield when in defence of the right. Or, if you prefer to express it thus, it is a spiritual strength which stands firm and unshaken, with good reason, and on behalf of the right. Or, again, thus : a spiritual strength, which, as far as in it lies, directs and rules all things according to reason.

5. Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord ? Whosoever shall take upon him to ascend to the top of that mountain, that is to say, to attain the perfection of virtue, must consider how arduous is that ascent, and how easy to fall without the assistance of the Word. Happy is the soul which excites the joy and the astonishment of the Angels who behold it, so that it hears them speaking of it thus : Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness, leaning upon her Beloved? (viii. 5). For otherwise she labours to no purpose, if she does not lean upon God (nititur, innititur). She will acquire new forces in her struggle with herself, and thus becoming the stronger, will bring all things into subjection to reason. She will regulate anger, fear, cupidity, and joy, as a skilful charioteer (if I may so speak), driving the chariot of the soul ; she will bring into captivity every carnal affection, and subject all the senses to the control of reason and the practice of virtue. How can all things fail to be possible to a man who depends in his endeavours upon Him who can do all things ? How firm a ground of confidence is that saying : Ican do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me (Phil. iv. 13). Nothing shows more clearly the Almighty power of the WORD, than that He makes all those whose hope is in Him to be, as it were, all powerful. For all things are possible to him that believeth (Mark ix. 23). Is not he all-powerful to whom all things are possible ? Thus it is that the soul, if it does not presume upon its own powers, but is strengthened by the WORD, will be able so to rule over itself that no unrighteousness shall have dominion over it. It is thus, I say, that the soul, resting upon the WORD, and endued with power from on high, cannot possibly be either overthrown or brought into subjection by any open violence, secret guile, or enticing allurement.

6. Would you have no fear of violence from without? Then let not the foot of pride find place within you ; so the hand of the violent shall not cast you down. There are the workers of iniquity fallen (Ps. xxxvi . 12). It was thus that the devil and his angels fell. They were impelled to evil by no force from without ; nevertheless, they were not able to stand, but were driven forth from Heaven. He did not stand fast in the truth, who did not rely upon the WORD, but trusted in his own strength. It was for that reason, perhaps, that he desired to sit, because he was not able to stand upright. For, he said : Iwill sit upon the mount ofthe congregation (Is. xiv. 13). But the judgment of God was otherwise ; he neither stood nor sat, but fell headlong, as we are told by the Lord Himself : Ibeheld Satan as lightning fallfrom heaven (Luke x. 18) . Therefore let the soul that stands, if it does not desire to fall, not trust in its own strength, but lean upon the WORD. The Word Himself warns us : Without Me ye can do nothing (John xv. 5). That is most truly the case ; without the WORD we can neither stand firm in the good to which we have attained, nor rise up towards any fresh good. Do you, therefore, who as yet art standing firm, give glory to the Word, and say : Heset my feet upon a rock and ordered my goings ( Ps. xl. 2). It is needful that the same Hand which has raised you up should hold you firm and prevent you from falling. Thus much is by way of explanation of what I said, that we have need of the WORD, that we may be supported by Him and enabled to attain unto virtue.

7. In the next place, let us consider what I have also asserted, namely, that it is by the Word we are reformed according to wisdom. The WORD is wisdom, and He is strength. Let the soul, then, draw wisdom from Him who is wisdom, and strength from Him who is strength ; and let each of these gifts be ascribed to the Word alone. Otherwise, if either be ascribed to some other source, or arrogated to the soul itself, let it be said also that the river does not flow from the spring, the juice of the grape from the vine, or light from the orb of day. It is a faithful saying : Ifany ofyou lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not : and it shall be given him (James i. 5). This the Apostle expressly states ; and I think it is not otherwise with regard to strength. For strength is nearly allied to wisdom ; it is a gift of God, coming down from Him who is the Father of the Word, and to be ranked among the best gifts. If anyone should think that it is in all respects identical with wisdom, I do not contest it ; but that perfect resemblance is in the WORD, not in the soul. For those excellences, which in the WORD are one because of the unique simplicity of the Divine nature, have not in the soul the same action ; but accommodate and distribute themselves, as if diverse, according to its different and various necessities. According to this principle, then, it is one thing for the soul to be acted upon by strength, and another for it to be directed by wisdom : one thing for it to be strengthened by power, and another for it to be delighted by sweetness. For although wisdom be powerful, and power sweet ; yet that we may attach to words each their proper signification, we attach to power the sense of a certain vigour in the soul, and to wisdom that of calmness and composure, accompanied by a kind of spiritual sweetness. This I take to have been specified by the Apostle when, after having given many exhortations relating to spiritual strength, he added with regard to sweetness : In sweetness, in the Holy Ghost ( 2 Cor. vi. 6, Douay). It is, then, an honour, indeed, to stand firm, to resist, to repel force by force, which are regarded as the works of strength and courage ; but it is also a labour. For it is not the same thing to defend your honour with toil and danger, and to possess it in peace. Whatsoever strength laboriously prepares, wisdom makes use of and enjoys ; and that which wisdom ordains, contemplates, regulates, strength carries into effect.

8. ' The wisdom of a scribe cometh by his time of leisure, ' saith the Wise man (Ecclus. xxxviii. 25, Douay). The very leisure, therefore, of wisdom is a labour ; and the more leisurely wisdom is, the more laborious it is in its own way. But virtue, the more it is exercised in its own sphere of action, the more illustrious it is ; and the more it prevails over difficulties, the more it is approved. And if anyone should define wisdom as the love of virtue, I do not know that he would be far wrong. But where love is, there a task, whatever it be, is not a mere labour, but a pleasure and a joy. And perhaps the name ' sapientia' is derived from ' sapor,' since it is, as it were, the seasoning of virtue, to which it gives taste and savour, and which, in default of it, remains tasteless and insipid. Nor should I object if anyone should define wisdom to be the love of, and taste for, good. But we have lost this taste almost from the very appearance of our race upon the earth. From the moment in which sense has prevailed, and the venom of the old serpent has occupied and corrupted the palate of the heart, it has begun to have no longer a taste for that which is good, and a depraved and injurious taste has begun to enter in. Thence it is that the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth ( Gen. viii. 21 ) ; that is, from the folly of the first woman. It is, then, the folly of the woman that was the cause of our losing the taste for good, and that because the malicious cunning of the serpent deceived her inexperience. But the very reason which made that malice appear to have gained the victory for a time, occasions it the mortification of defeat for all eternity. For, lo ! Wisdom once more has wholly filled the heart and the body of a woman ; so that as by a woman we had become deformed by falling into folly, so by a woman we should be reformed unto wisdom. And now wisdom constantly prevails over malice in those souls into which it has entered, destroying and replacing by a better that taste for evil which malice brought with it. Wisdom, when it enters into the soul, renders insipid all the pleasures of the flesh, purifies the understanding, heals and restores the palate of the heart. Thus, with the restoration of its powers, it begins to desire that which is good, and to desire wisdom itself, than which there is nothing better.

9. How many good actions are done in which, notwithstanding, those who do them have no real delight, because they are not impelled to do them by a taste and love for them, but are, in a measure, forced to do them by the compulsion of reason, or of circumstances, or even by necessity ! And, on the contrary, how many there are who, though they do wrong, do not take pleasure in evil, but are led into it rather by fear, or by some desire which they wish to satisfy, than by any satisfaction in wrongdoing ! But those who act from deliberate purpose either are wise, and delight in goodness for its own sake, or they are of evil disposition, and find pleasure in evil as such, without being drawn to it by the hope of some advantage. What, indeed, is iniquity but the taking pleasure in what is evil ? Happy is the soul which has delight only in whatever is good, and distaste and hatred for whatever is evil ! This it is to be reformed unto wisdom ; this is to have had happy experience of the victory of wisdom in one's own self. For that in which the predominance of wisdom over malice is most plainly shown is when, by the exclusion of all delight in evil, which is nothing else than evil itself, the soul feels itself to be wholly occupied by a deeply seated approval of, and delight in, that which is good. It is, then, to power we have to look for the ability bravely to endure tribulations, and to wisdom for the ability to rejoice in them. To strengthen thy heart, and wait patiently upon the Lord, that is the work of power ; to taste and see how sweet is the Lord, is the gift of wisdom. And as each gift shows to the greatest advantage in its appropriate virtue, so modesty of mind approves the man who is wise, constancy the man who is full of power. And it is with fitness that we put wisdom after power, because power of soul is, as it were, the firm foundation upon which wisdom raises for itself the complete edifice of the Christian character. But it is needful that the knowledge of the good should precede each of these, for there is no point of agreement between the light of wisdom and the darkness of ignorance. And a good will also is needful, for ' into a malicious soul wisdom shall not enter (Wisd. i. 4) .

10. Now, having taken note that by the change of its will from evil to good the soul has recovered life, spiritual health by the instruction which God bestows, stability by the gift of strength, and, lastly, maturity by that of wisdom, it remains that it should obtain the gift of beauty, without which it is not able to please Him who is fairest among the sons of men. For she knows that it is said : The King shall greatly desire thy beauty (Ps. xlv. 11). How many good gifts to the soul, the gifts of the Word, have we enumerated : knowledge, goodwill, power, wisdom ; and yet we do not read that either of these is desired by the WORD ; only of thy beauty ' is this said. So the Psalmist also says : The Lord hath reigned, He is clothed with beauty (Ps. xciii. 1, Douay). How can He fail to desire that she who is at once His likeness and His Bride should be clad with a similar garment of beauty to Himself ? The closer is her resemblance to Him, the dearer will she be. In what, then, consists this beauty of the soul ? Is it not in this, that she is called honourable ? Let us take that meaning provisionally, if no better occurs to us. But honour appears in the outward behaviour ; not that it consists in this, but it is by this that it is recognised. Its origin and its dwelling-place are in the conscience, and the testimony of a good conscience is its glory. When the truth shines forth in the soul, and the soul beholds itself in the truth, there is nothing brighter than that light, nothing more glorious than that testimony. But ofwhat nature is the image thus displayed ? It is that of a soul chaste, modest, selfrestrained, circumspect, admitting nothing which tends to obscure the glory of the testimony thus rendered ; conscious of no wrongdoing which should make it ashamed in the presence of the truth, and oblige it to hide its countenance, as if confused and repelled by the Divine light. This is without doubt that beauty which God takes most pleasure in beholding, among all the excellences of the holy soul ; and this we name and define as honour.

11. But when the splendour of this beauty is diffused abundantly throughout the heart, so as to fill it wholly, it is of necessity that it should become visible also without, and be not as a light hidden under a bushel, but rather as a lamp shining in a dark place, and which cannot be concealed. Thus casting the bright illumination of its rays upon the body, it makes the latter an image of the soul, and diffuses itself through all its faculties and senses, insomuch that every action, every word, look, motion, every laugh (if it should ever give way to laughter) should be mixed with gravity and full of self-restraint. When, then, all the movements of the body, all its gestures and habits, are grave, pure, and modest, far removed from all boldness and licence, from all lightness and luxury, but adapted to righteousness, and to every duty of piety, then the fairness of the soul shall be visible, provided there be no secret guile to obscure it. For it may be that all these things are put on and simulated, and do not come naturally out of the abundance of the heart. And to display this spiritual beauty in all its lustre, we will define, if you please, this honour, and show in what it consists. It is the candour of the soul, which is solicitous to unite the testimony of a good conscience within with spotlessness of reputation without, or in the words of the Apostle : Providingfor things honest, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men ( 2 Cor. viii. 21 ). Blessed is the soul which has clothed itself in that beauty of holiness, that pure whiteness of innocence, by which it may claim a glorious likeness, not to the world, but to the WORD ; of whom we read, that He is the Brightness of the everlasting Light (Wisd. vii. 26) ; the Brightness of the glory of God, and the express Image of His Person ( Heb. i. 3 ) .

12. From this degree the soul which is in such a condition ventures to think of union with the Word. Why should she not do so, when she sees that the more she resembles Him, the more fitted she is for that spiritual marriage ? The loftiness of His Majesty does not terrify her, because her resemblance associates her with Him, her affection unites her to Him, her profession of obedience and loyalty constitutes a betrothal. And this is the form of that profession : I have sworn, and will perform it, that I will keep Thy righteous judgments (Ps. cxix. 106). This the Apostles had followed when they said : Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed Thee (Matt. xix. 27). Similar is that saying which, referring to a carnal marriage, signified, nevertheless, the spiritual union which is betwixt Christ and His Church : For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh (Eph. v. 31) ; and by the Psalmist the Bride glorifies herself in these terms : It is good for me to draw near to God : Ihave put my trust in the Lord God ( Ps. lxxiii. 28). When, then, you shall see a soul which, having left all, cleaves unto the WORD with every thought and desire, lives only for the Word, rules itself according to His will, nay, becomes, as it were, fruitful by the Word, which is able to say with sincerity, To me to live is Christ, and to die is gain (Phil. i. 21 ), then you may have much assurance that this soul is wedded to the Word, and is His Bride. The heart of her Spouse trusteth in her, knowing her to be faithful, inasmuch as she has despised all things in comparison of Him, and counts them as dung (Phil. iii. 8), that she may win Christ, and be found in Him. Such the Lord knew him to be of whom He said : He is a chosen vessel unto Me (Acts ix. 15). Assuredly the soul of the Apostle St. Paul was, as it were, a faithful spouse and a tender mother, as was shown by his touching words : My little children, ofwhom Itravail in birth again until Christ be formed in you ( Gal. iv. 19).

13. But notice that in this spiritual marriage there are two ways of travailing in birth, different, though not contrary ; since saintly souls, as holy mothers, either bring forth souls by preaching, or by meditation develop spiritual intelligences. In the latter kind of travail it sometimes happens that the soul is so transported out of itself, and entirely detached from the bodily senses, that, though conscious of the WORD, it has no consciousness of itself. This is the case when it is drawn on by the ineffable sweetness of the WORD, and, as it were, stolen from itself, or, rather, it is rapt out of itself to enjoy the Presence of the WORD. The mind is affected in one way when it is rendered fruitful by the Word, and in another when it enjoys the Presence of the WORD. In the one it is full ofcare for the necessity of its neighbour ; in the other it is filled with enjoyment of the sweetness of the WORD. And, indeed, a mother has joy in her offspring, as a Bride in the kindness of her spouse. Dear and precious are children, who are the pledges of affection ; most sweet also the devotion of the beloved. So also it is a good work to save many souls ; but to depart and to be with the WORD, that is far better. But when does that happen to us, or how long does it endure ? Sweet is that communion ; but how seldom does it occur, and for how brief a time does it last ! And this is the final reason of those for which, as I remember I stated above, the soul seeks the WORD ; namely, that it may attain to spiritual joy through Him.

14. Perhaps it will be asked of me by someone who hears this, What is it to enjoy the WORD ? I reply, Let that be asked rather from him who has had the happiness to experience it. Even though it were given to me to have that great blessing, how can you think it possible that I should explain a mystery which is incapable of being put into words ? Hear one who had known it : Whether we be beside ourselves, it is to God : or whether we be sober, it is for your cause (2 Cor. v. 13). That is to say, It is one thing for me to have communion with God, and of that God alone is the judge ; it is quite another for me to be in familiar speech, my brethren, with yourselves. It has been permitted to me to have experience of that great blessing ; it is not at all permitted to me to express it in speech. And in the reference which I have just now made to it, I adapt my words, so as to speak, as you are able to receive what I may say. O thou who art full of curiosity to know what it is to enjoy the Word, prepare thy heart for that, not thy ear. The tongue cannot reveal it, it is taught only by grace. It is hidden from the wise and prudent, and it is revealed to babes. Humility, my brethren, is a great and lofty virtue, by which that which is not taught is promised ; which is worthy to attain what is beyond the province of teaching ; worthy of the Word, and to receive by the WORD that which it is not itself capable of expressing in words. Why is this ? Not because of any merit of its own, but because such is the good pleasure of Him who is the Father of the WORD, the Bridegroom of the soul, Jesus Christ our Lord, who is above all, God blessed for ever. AMEN.

BELIEVE that nothing more will be expected of me upon the subject of the soul's reasons for seeking the WORD, for I have already sufficiently stated them. Come, then, let us continue to expound what remains of the verse before us, as far only as relates to morals. Notice, then, in the first place, the modesty of the Bride. I know not whether there is any virtue which man can attain more beautiful than this. This before all I would desire to take, so to speak, in my hands, and to gather it as a fair flower to present to those who are young among us. Not that those who are more advanced in it ought not to preserve it with every care, but because the grace of a tender modesty shines out more fairly and becomingly in those who are of a more tender age. What is there more amiable than a young man who is modest ? How fair, and even splendid, does this jewel of virtues show on the countenance and in the life of the young ! What a certain and unmistakable mark it is of goodness of character, and of that which may be one day hoped for from them ! It is, as it were, a rod of correction to such an one, which is constantly present before his mind, which chastens the affections and the thoughtless actions of an age which is wont to be artful and deceptive, and which restrains its light or insolent actions. What is there more contrary than it to coarse speech, or to any kind of impurity ? It is the sister of continence. There is no mark so plain and unmistakable as this, of dove-like simplicity : and therefore it is the proof of innocence. It is a lamp which burns without ceasing in a modest soul, so that nothing impure or unbecoming can attempt to enter there without being instantly discovered. Thus it acts as the destroyer of vices and promoter of inward purity, the special glory of conscience, the guardian of good fame, the ornament of life, the seat and the first-fruits of virtue, the glory of nature, and the token or ensign of everything honourable. What grace and beauty the very colour in the cheeks called up by modesty imparts to the countenance !

2. Modesty is an excellence so natural to the soul, that even those who do not fear to act wrongly are ashamed to let it be perceived, as the Lord Himself declares : Every one that doeth evil hateth the light (John iii. 20) . And again, St. Paul says : They that sleep, sleep in the night ; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night ( 1 Thess . v. 7) ; that is to say, the works of darkness, which are deserving of darkness everlasting, shroud themselves in darkness of their own accord. It is, however, important to distinguish here between the modesty of men who are not ashamed to do such actions, but blush to have them discovered, and therefore conceal them, and that of the Bride, who does not merely conceal them, but rejects them absolutely, and drives them away. Thus the Wise Man declares : There is a shame which bringeth sin : and there is a shame which is glory and grace ( Ecclus. iv. 21). The Bride seeks the WORD ; seeks Him at night, and on her couch, but modestly and timidly ; and this modesty is glorious, not sinful. She seeks to find Him for the purifying of her conscience, for the obtaining of the testimony, that she may say: Our glory is this, the testimony of our conscience ( 2 Cor. i. 12, Douay). By night on my bed Isought Him whom my soul loveth (Cant. iii. 1 ) . Her modesty, if you notice, is indicated to you both by the place and the time. What is there so congenial to a modest mind as secrecy ? Now, the night and the couch ensure that her prayer is secret. And, in fact, we are bidden, when we desire to pray, to enter into our bedchamber (Matt. vi. 6), no doubt for the sake of secrecy. That is, indeed, to be done as a measure of precaution, lest if we pray in the sight of men human praise may hinder the effect of our prayer and deprive us of its fruit. But we learn from it also a lesson of modesty; for what course is so appropriate to modesty as to avoid even the praises that are due to it, and to fly from vainglory ? It is, then, clear that the Son, who is the teacher and pattern of modesty, has expressly bidden us to seek for secrecy in our prayers, so as to promote modesty. What can be so unbecoming, especially in a young man, as an ostentation of sanctity ? It is to be borne in mind also that at that age it is particularly needful to make a beginning of religious obedience, according to the saying of Jeremiah : It 1 Magister; another reading is minister. is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth (Lam. iii. 27) . The prayer which you are about to offer will be well recommended if you cause it to be preceded by modesty, saying : I am very young and despised : but Iforgot not Thyjustifications ( Ps. cxix. 141 , Douay) .

3. It is needful that he who desires to offer acceptable prayer should observe not only the right place, but also the right time to do so. A time of leisure is the fittest and most convenient, and especially during the deep silence which night brings ; for then prayer arises most freely, and is most pure. Arise, says a prophet, cry out in the night ; in the beginning of the watches pour out thine heart like water before the face of the Lord (Lam. ii. 19). How securely during the night does prayer arise to heaven, unwitnessed, save by God alone, and by the holy Angel, who receives that prayer to present it before the Altar of Heaven ! How acceptable and clear it is, being rendered translucent by humility and modesty ! How serene and peaceful, since it is troubled by no sound nor interruption ! And lastly, how pure and sincere, as being free from the soiling dust of earthly care, nor deflected by the praise and flattery of human witnesses ! For these reasons it was that the Bride, who is as modest as she is prudent, sought the silence of the night, and the retirement of her chamber, to pray, that is, to occupy herself in seeking the Word. For these two objects are one. Otherwise you do not pray aright, if in prayer you seek some other object than the WORD, or seek it otherwise than on account of the WORD, since in Him are all things [that you ought to seek]. In Him are the remedies for the wounds of your soul, in Him the help for necessities, supplies for all defects, abundance for the soul's progress in holiness, and, in a word, all things that man ought to have or to desire, all things that he needs, all things that are good for him. It is, then, wholly without cause that anything but the Word is asked of Him in prayer, for He Himself is all things. For although we sometimes seem to ask those temporal good things of which we have need, if it is for the sake of the WORD that we ask them (as indeed it is fit and right we should do), it is not properly those good things themselves for which we are making petition, but for Him on whose account and for whose service we are asking them. Those whose rule of conduct it is to make use of all things so as to endeavour to deserve well of the WORD, know the4.truth We ofshall whatnotI say regret . examining still farther the mysteries indicated by this mention of the bed and of the night, to see if there be some spiritual truth concealed in it, which it will be for our benefit to discover. If, for example, by the bed we understand the weakness of our human nature, and by the night its ignorance, then we shall be thus taught that it is not without good cause that the Bride seeks with such touching and painful earnestness the Word, who is the Power of God and the Wisdom of God, that she may be fortified by His presence against each of these evils, which are to be attributed to the fault of origin. What can be more fitting than that Power should be opposed to weakness, and wisdom to ignorance ? And that no doubt may linger in the hearts of the simple regarding this interpretation, let them hear what is said in a Psalm : The Lord will strengthen him upon the bed of languishing ; Thou wilt make all his bed in his sickness ( Ps. xli . 3) . That is as relates to the bed. And as to the night of ignorance, what can be plainer than the statement in another Psalm : They know not, neither will they understand ; they walk on in darkness ( Ps. lxxxii. 5) ? which expresses with preciseness that state of ignorance into which the whole human race are born. It was into this, as I think, that the blessed Apostle St. Paul both confesses that he was born, and glories that he has been delivered from it, saying : Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness (Col. i. 13) . And on this account he says also : We are not [children of the night, nor of darkness ( 1 Thess. v. 5) ; and also he says (Eph. v. 8) to all those who are elect Walk as children of light.