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From the place where it is written: “My spikenard gave forth its aroma,” to the place where it says: “For your voice is pleasant, and your face is beautiful.” 1. “God the Builder” (Heb. 11:10) created all movements of the soul for good. But in our life it often happens that things that are good by nature, when abused, lead us to sin. One of the movements of the soul is love: we use it correctly if we love wisdom and truth; when our love descends to the worst, we love flesh and blood. You, “as... spiritual” (1 Cor. 3:1), spiritually listen to the love words of the Song and learn to transform the movements of your soul and the burning of natural love for the better, as it is written: “Love her, and she... will protect you, surround her, and she will exalt you” (Proverbs 4:6, 8). “Husbands, love your wives” (Col 3:19), the Apostle said, but did not stop there: “Husbands, love your wives.” He knew that the love of husbands even for their own wives could be shameful, he knew that it could be pleasing to God, and, teaching how husbands should love their wives, he added: “Husbands, love your wives as... Christ... the Church” (Eph. 5:25). We said this as an introduction to what will be stated below. 2. “While the King is in His rest” (Song 1:11) – “he bowed down, fell asleep like a lion” and like a lion cub (Num. 24:9) – the friends of the Bridegroom promised the Bride, until He got up, “to make her the likeness of gold... and silver” (Song 1:10), for they do not have gold like the Bridegroom. Here in other words the sufferings of the Bridegroom are announced, therefore the Bride answers not unreasonably: she understands the mystery of the Passion, and, having heard: “We will make you the likeness of gold with silver signs, while the King is in His rest,” she answers: “My spikenard gave off its incense - my brother will be in the midst of my breasts” (Song 1:11-12). “While the King is in His rest” followed by: “My nard gave off its fragrance”? The Gospel tells how “a woman came with alabaster and incense, genuine spikenard, precious” (Mark 14:3), not a sinner, no, now I’m talking about a saint; for Luke (Luke 7:37) talks about a sinner, but Matthew, Mark and John (Matt 26:7; Mark 14:3; John 12:3) are not about a sinner. So, not a sinner came, but a saint, whose name John mentioned - her name was Mary - “with alabaster of genuine, precious incense ... and poured it on the head” of Jesus. Then, when the disciples were indignant - not all, but only Judas (John 12:4), who said: “You could have sold it for three hundred denarii and... given it to the poor” (John 12:5), our Teacher and Savior replied: “You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have Me. ...She prepared Me in advance for the day of burial. Therefore, wherever this Gospel is preached... it will be said about what she did in memory of her” (Matthew 26:11-13). And in the image of this woman, who says: “My spikenard gave off its incense,” she pours incense on the head of Jesus. And you take the spikenard so that, having poured a sweet fragrance on the head of Jesus, you can boldly proclaim: “My spikenard gave off its fragrance” and hear the response speech of Jesus: “Wherever this Gospel is preached..., what she did will be said in memory of her.” What you have done will be preached to all nations. When will you do this? If you become like the Apostle and say: “We are the aroma of Christ in every place among those who are being saved” (2 Cor. 2:15), your good deeds will be nard. If you sin, your sins will spread a stench around you, for the repentant says: “My wounds stink and fester from the face of my madness” (Ps. 37:6). The Evangelist wrote not about [material] spikenard, and not about that incense that is visible with the eyes, but about spiritual spikenard, about spikenard, “which gave forth its incense.” 3. “A bunch of stacti – that is, [myrrh] drops – is my brother” (Song. 1:12) 1. From “stacti, onycha, cassia, g al b ana” (Exodus 30:34–35), we read in Exodus, according to the order of God, incense [and] priestly anointing was composed. If you see my Savior descending to the earthly and low, you will see how, from great virtue and Divine greatness, a small drop flows to us. About this drop the prophet sang, saying: “And it shall come to pass: out of the drop of his people shall Jacob be gathered, who must be gathered together” (Mic. 2:12). As the words: “A stone... was torn out of the mountain without the help of hands” (Dan. 2:34) mean the coming in the flesh of our Savior - for not the whole mountain descended to the earth, and human weakness could not contain the greatness of the whole mountain, but a stone from the mountain, “a stone of stumbling block” (1 Peter 2:7), “petra scandali” 2 descends into the world - so here too He is called a drop in a figurative sense. If “all nations are counted as a drop from a bucket” (Isa. 40:15), it follows that He who became everything for the salvation of all should also become a drop for their liberation. We are insignificant - and He “made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a servant” (Phil. 2:7). We are “a foolish and foolish people” (Jer. 5:21) – and He Himself became “the foolishness of preaching” (1 Cor. 1:21), so that “the foolish things of God may become wiser than men.” We are weak - and “the weakness of God has become stronger than men” (1 Cor 1:25). So, since “all nations are like a drop from a bucket, and are counted as a speck of dust in a balance,” He became a [myrrh] drop, so that the aroma of myrrh would come from our clothes, as it is said: “Myrrh and scarlet and cassia are from your clothes, from the palaces of ivory, from which they make you glad. The daughters of kings are in Your honor” (Ps. 45:9–10). This is spoken to the Bride in the forty-fourth Psalm. “A bunch of myrrh is my brother” (Song 1:12). Let us also consider what the name “Brother” means. The church that speaks these words is us, gathered from the Gentiles; Our Savior is the Son of her sister, that is, the synagogue, for the Church and the synagogue are sisters. The Savior, as we said, is the Son of the synagogue sister, the Husband of the Church, the Bridegroom of the Church, the Brother of His Bride. “A bunch of myrrh is my brother; in the midst of my breasts will abide" 3. Who is so blessed that he receives a guest in the main part of the heart, “in the midst of the breasts,” and carries the Word of God in his chest? For this is precisely what is sung here: “In the midst of my breasts he will abide.” “If your breasts are not crushed,” the Divine Word will dwell in the midst of them. In a marriage song, it is more appropriate to use the word “breasts” than “breasts.” And it is clear why when describing to the one who says: “In the midst of my breasts,” you can add: “If your breasts are not crushed.” Where did I get: “If your breasts are not crushed”? From Ezekiel (Ezekiel 23:3). The breasts of harlots are flaccid, flabby and covered with wrinkles. The breasts of chaste ones are raised and full of virginal shame. Such ones receive the Word of the Bridegroom and say: “In the midst of my breasts he will abide.” “The brush of the keeper is my brother” (Song 1:13). [This is] the beginning of speech in the sprout and the beginning of flowering in Word 5, and therefore it is said: “The brush of the keeper - that is, the flowering - is my brother.” He is not a keeper’s brush for everyone, but only for those worthy of this flower. To others - other bunches; and this bunch, decorated with flowers, appears for the one who is “black and beautiful.” She does not simply say: “The keeper’s brush is my Brother,” but adds “with me,” showing that He is not the keeper’s brush for everyone. Let's see in what regions this flower of the Bride grows. "In the vineyards of Eng adzi" (Song 1:13), translated "eye of temptation." So, in the vineyards are the eyes of temptation “the brush of the keeper - my brother is with me.” The eye of temptation is in this life, for we are in temptation in this world and “the life on earth is a temptation for men” (Job 7:1). While we are in this world, we are in the “vineyards of Engaddi,” but if we are worthy of it, our Vinedresser will replant us. And do not doubt that you can from the vineyards of Engaddi to be transported to another, better place: Our vinedresser has already been prepared by frequent exercise to transfer the vine (cf. John 15:1). “You brought the vine out of Egypt, drove out the nations and planted it. The shadow of it covered the mountains, and the cedars of God covered its tops” (Ps. 79:9, 11). The bridegroom, who, having come, “will dwell in the midst of her breasts” and heart in secret. 4. Then the speech of the Bridegroom turns to her and says: “Beautiful are you, O close to Me, beautiful are you! your eyes are like a dove” (Song 1:14). She answers the Bridegroom this way: “You are beautiful, my Brother” (Song 1:15), but does not add: “Close to me.” When he says to her: “You are beautiful,” he adds: “O close to Me.” Why doesn’t she say: “You are beautiful, O Close to Me,” but only: “You are beautiful”? Why doesn’t He simply say: “You are beautiful,” but “You are beautiful, O close to Me”? The Bride, if she moves away from the Bridegroom, is not beautiful: she is beautiful only when she is combined with the Word of God. And now the Bridegroom faithfully teaches her to be close to Him and not to depart from Him. “You are beautiful, O close to Me, you become beautiful because you are close to Me, even without the addition: “O close to Me, you will be beautiful.” any conditions. “You are beautiful, O close to Me, you are beautiful.” Let's consider another praise of the Bride, so that we too, jealous, strive to become brides: “Your eyes are dove.” “Whoever looks at a woman lustfully” and “commits adultery with her in his heart” (Matthew 5:28) does not have dove eyes. If he does not have dove eyes, then “he enters his brother’s house unhappy” and does not observe what is prescribed in Proverbs: “Do not go into your brother’s house unhappy” (Prov. 27:10), (in the Septuagint it is translated “unhappy”, Aquila, strictly following the Hebrew [text], writes aporeonta, that is, “foolish”). And whoever has “eyes... of a dove” looks straight and wins favor; for with his direct gaze he will earn mercy. Who looks straight, if not the one who looks with a chaste gaze and pure eyes? Do not think that this is said only about the carnal eyes (although it is not useless to think about them), but by entering into the interior of your heart and examining with your mind other eyes, which “are enlightened by the commandment of God” - for “the commandment of the Lord is the light... that enlightens the eyes” (Ps. 18:9) - clarify, intensify and develop them in order to sacredly understand everything that is said and, like “the Spirit descending in the form of a dove” (Matthew 3:16) 6, hear: “Your eyes are doves.” “Thy eyes are doves,” if you spiritually understand the Law, if you understand the Gospel as it wants to be understood and preached, and you see Jesus, “every disease and every infirmity” (Matthew 4:23) not only when He was in the flesh, healing, but also today healing, not only then coming down to people, but also today descending and remaining here, for “behold, I am with you... all the days until the end of the age" (Matthew 28:20). "Your eyes are dove". “You are beautiful, O close to Me, you are beautiful! your eyes are dove." Hearing such praises to herself, the Bride replaces the Groom in praise; and does not give Him with his exclamations what He does not have, but, understanding His beauty and contemplating it, says: “You are beautiful, my Brother, and beautiful; Our bed is in the shadows” (Song 1:15). I am looking for the bed where the Bride and Groom rest: and, if I am not mistaken, this is a human body. For the evangelical paralytic, “lying on the bed” (Matthew 9:2) and, at the command of the Savior, “went into his house..., taking him to bed” (Matthew 9:7), before healing he lay on the weak joint of his members, after strengthened by God’s virtue. This is how I understand: “Take up your bed and go to your house” (Matthew 9:6). After all, it was not for this that the Son of God came down from heaven to earth to give orders about beds and not to allow one who had risen from his illness to leave without a bed, saying: “Take up your bed and go to your house.” And you, healed by the Savior, “take up your bed and go to your house,” and when the Groom comes to you, His Bride, and lies down with you on the bed, you will say: “You are beautiful, my Brother, and handsome; Our bed is in the shade." "You are beautiful, my Brother." You are beautiful, and You are in the shadow: for “by day the sun will not strike you, nor the moon by night” (Ps. 120:6). 5. “The beams of our houses are cedars” (Song 1:16). These are the words of many people. It seems to me that this is talking about the husbands, the companions of the Bridegroom, who were discussed earlier. “The houses are fastened with cedar beams and covered with cypresses” (Song 1:16), for “instead of spikenard the cypress will grow, instead of the elecampane you will grow myrtle” (Isa. 55:13 ). And you, having asked what the nature of these trees is, and having learned that cedar does not rot, and cypress has a wonderful smell, try to cover your house in such a way that it can be said about you: “The beams of our houses are cedars, and the ceilings are cypresses.” 6. Then the Bridegroom says: “I am the flower of the valley and the lily of the valleys” (Song 2:1). For my sake, who lives in the valley, He descends into the valley and becomes “the water of the valley” instead of “the tree of life planted in the paradise of God” (Rev. 2:7), and becomes the “flower of the whole field”, that is, the whole world and the whole earth. What can be so much the “flower of the world” if not the name of Christ? “His name is like ointment poured out” (Song 1:2), and about He says differently: “I am the flower of the floor and the lily of the valleys,” and He says all this about Himself. Then He says to the Bride, praising her: “As the lily among the thorns, so is my beloved among the maidens” (Song. 2:2). Just as the lily cannot be compared with the thorns, among which it often grows, so “My beloved” is higher than all the girls, like the lily among the thorns. Hearing this, the Bride answers the Groom: she feels some new sweetness in Him, and praise bursts out of her mouth. The smell of incense is pleasant and caresses the sense of smell, but sweets taste sweet in a different way. There is something beautiful in both taste and smell, which caresses the larynx with sweetness and softens the air with fragrance: this is an apple. Its nature is such that it has both [gifts]. Therefore, wanting to praise not only the fragrance, but also the sweetness of His speech, the Bride says: “As an apple tree among the trees of the forest, so is my Brother among the young men” (Song 2:3). Compared to the Word of God, all trees are barren trees; next to Christ, everything that you call will be “trees of the forest” that bear no fruit. For what can be called fruitful in comparison with Him? Even those trees that seemed to bend under the weight of fruit were found to be barren at His coming. Therefore, “as an apple tree is among the trees of the forest, so is my Brother among the young men.” “I loved His shadow and sat [there]” (Song 2:3). How beautifully said! She does not say: “I love His shadow,” but “I fell in love,” and she does not “sit,” but “sat [there].” So, even if at first we cannot carry on a conversation with Him, we still from the very beginning enjoy, I would say, a shadow of His greatness; That’s why we read in the prophets: “The breath of our countenance, the Lord Anointed, ... of whom it is said: in the shadow and in Him we will dwell among the nations” (Lamentations 4:20) and from one shadow we move to another: for “for those who live in the land of the shadow of death, a light has arisen” (Isaiah 9:2), so that we may pass from the shadow of death to the shadow of life. He who goes forward at the beginning of the path always wants to linger at least a little in the shadow of virtue. I think that’s why the Nativity of Jesus began in the shadows, but ended not in the shadows, but in the truth: “The Holy Spirit,” it is said, “will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you” (Luke 1:35). The Nativity of Christ began from a shadow: not only in Mary did Nativity begin from a shadow, but also in you, if you are worthy, the Word of God will be born. Make it so that you are able to accept His shadow and, when you become worthy of the shadow, His body, I would say, will come to you, giving the shadow; for “he who is faithful in a little will be faithful in much” (Luke 16:10). “I fell in love with His shadow and sat there.” You see that it does not remain in the shadows forever, but from there it will rise to the better, saying: “And His fruit is sweet to my throat.” I, she says, wanted to rest in His shadow, but He covered me with His shadow, and I was even satisfied with His fruits and say: “And His fruit is sweet to my throat” (Song 2:3). 7. “Lead me into the house of wine” (Song 2:4). The Groom was outside, in the arms of the Bride, and rested “in the midst of her breasts.” Numerous maidens are not such as to be worthy of receiving the Bridegroom in their home: for “to a multitude of outsiders all things are told in parables” (Mark 4:11). How afraid I am that we too will become “many maidens”! "Take me into the house of wine." Why do I stay outside the door for so long? “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; If anyone... opens to Me, I will come in... and will dine with him, and he with Me” (Rev. 3:20). "Enter me" . And now the Word of God says the same; Behold, Christ says: “Bring me in.” To you, the catechumens, He says: “Bring Me in” not just into the house, but “into the house of wine”; let your soul be filled with the wine of joy (Eccl. 10:19), with the wine of the Holy Spirit, and so you will introduce into your home the Bridegroom, the Word (John 1:1), Wisdom (1 Cor. 1:30), Truth (John 14:6). For this is also said to those who are still imperfect: “Lead me into the house of wine.” 8. “Establish My order in love” ( Song 2:4 ). As it is elegantly said: “Establish My order in love”; for for many, love is disordered: what should be loved in the first place, they love secondly, and what should be loved secondly, first, what should be loved thirdly, they love fourthly, and what should be loved fourthly, thirdly, and for many the order of love turns out to be perverted. Among the saints, the order of love is correct. I want to give some examples so that you understand what was said: “Establish My order in love.” The Divine Word wants you to love your father, son, daughter; The Divine Word wants you to love Christ, and does not require that you not love children and have no affection for parents. What does It require? So that you do not love randomly, do not prefer father and mother to Me, do not love your son or daughter more than Me. “Whoever loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and whoever loves a son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me” (Matthew 10:37). Question your conscience about your feelings for your father, mother, brother, see what your love is for the Word of God and Christ - and you will immediately see that you love your son and daughter more than the Word, your parents more than Christ. Which of us do you think is so far gone that he loves the Word of God more than anything else and most strongly, and puts children in second place? Love your wife in the same way. “No one ever hated his own flesh” (Eph. 5:29), but loves it as flesh; it is said: “There will be two,” not one spirit, but “one flesh” (Eph. 5:31). Love God too, but love Him not as flesh and blood, but as spirit, for “he who is united with God is one spirit with God” (1 Cor 6:17). So, among the perfect, the order of love is correct. As for the distribution of love between us, after God, we are commanded first to love our parents, secondly our children, thirdly our servants. If your son is bad and your servant is good, then let the servant take the son’s place in love, and then the order of love among the saints will be established correctly. For our Teacher and Lord in the Gospel, giving instructions about love, indicated for each his own special love and gave those who are able to listen to Scripture to understand its order, saying: “Establish My order in love.” “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy virtue, and with all thy mind” (Matthew 22:37). “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:39). He did not say: love God as yourself, and your neighbor with all your heart, all your soul, all your virtue, all your mind. And one more thing: when he said: “Love your enemies” (Matthew 5:44), he did not command to love them with all your heart. The Divine Word is not disorderly and does not demand the impossible, does not say: “Love your enemies as yourself,” but only: “Love your enemies.” It is enough for them that we love them and do not hate them; one must love one’s neighbor “as oneself,” and God “with all our heart..., with all our soul, with all our virtue, with all our mind.” If you understand this and are fulfilled by what you understand, you have already fulfilled what was prescribed by the word of the Bridegroom: “Establish My order in love.” Which one of us do you think has love in the right order? “Fortify me with incense” (Song 2:5). One of the translators writes “wine”. The bride replies: “Support me with apples” (Song 2:5). What apples? “Like an apple tree among the trees of the forest, so is my brother among the young men.” Therefore, “support me with His apples, for I am wounded by love.” How wonderful it is, how magnificent it is to be wounded by love! Some are struck by the arrow of carnal love, others are wounded by earthly passion; bare your members and accept the “chosen arrow,” a beautiful arrow, for the shooter is God Himself. Listen to the Scripture speaking about this arrow, listen (what is even more amazing) to the arrow itself, saying: “You laid Me down as a chosen arrow; He kept Me in Your quiver. And... he said to Me: It is a great thing for You to be called My servant." (Luke 24:32). If someone is wounded by our speech and the teachings of the Divine Scriptures, and can say, “I am wounded by love,” he may follow them. But why do I say “possibly”? This is obvious. 9. “His left hand is under my head, and his right embraces me” (Song. 2:6). The Word of God has both a right and a left hand: wisdom, although it looks different for different understandings, in its depths is the same (cf. Wis. 7:27). Solomon himself taught about the right and left hands of wisdom, saying: “For long life is in her right hand, and in her left... are riches and glory” (Prov. 3:16). So, “His left hand is under my head” to give me rest, and the wrist 7 of the Bridegroom will become my headboard, and the core of my soul will rest on the Word of God. “His left hand is under my head.” It is not fitting for you to have beds that are followed by weeping. In Ezekiel it is written: “Woe to those who sew headboards for the elbow of any hand!” (Ezek. 13:18). Don’t sew your own headboards, don’t look for somewhere else to lay your head; let the left hand of the Bridegroom be under your head, and say: “His left hand is under my head.” When you do this, everything in your left hand will be rewarded to you, and you will say: “And in the left... are wealth and glory.” “And the right one hugs me.” You will be embraced by the right hand of the Groom. “Long life is in her right hand,” therefore, “you will live a long life and many days in the good land, which the Lord your God will give you” (Ex. 20:12). “I have conjured you, daughters of Jerusalem, with the virtues and strength of my fields” (Song. 2:7). What is the Bride conjuring to the daughters of Jerusalem? “Lift up and awaken love” (Song 2:7). How long will love sleep in you, O daughters of Jerusalem, O maidens? In me it does not sleep, “for I am wounded by love.” But in you, in abundance maidens, daughters of Jerusalem, love for the Bridegroom sleeps. I conjured you, daughters of Jerusalem, to raise, and not only to awaken, but also to awaken the love that is in you. For the Creator of the Universe, when creating you, sowed the seeds of love in your hearts. And now, as it is said in another place: “Truth slept in her” (Is. 1:21), so love sleeps in you, as in another place: “The Bridegroom fell asleep as well.” a lion and like a lion's whelp" (Num. 24:9). Until now, the Divine Word sleeps in the unfaithful and in the faint-hearted, but it is awake in the saints; it sleeps in those who are afraid of the storm (Matthew 8:23-26), and awakens from the voices of those who want to receive salvation from the waking Bridegroom. As soon as He wakes up, silence immediately sets in, immediately the huge waves calm down, the oncoming winds subside, the fury of the abyss ceases; and when He sleeps, there is storm, death and despair everywhere. So, “I conjure you, daughters of Jerusalem, with the virtues and powers of my fields.” What field? None other than this: “The smell... of the [full] field which the Lord blessed” (Gen. 27:27). 10. “Raise and awaken love as long as it pleases Him. The voice of my brother (Song 2:7–8). This is what the Bride-Church says, encouraging the maidens to prepare for the coming of the Bridegroom, if He wishes to come and converse with them. While she is saying this, the Bridegroom is approaching, and she points her finger at Him and says: “Here He comes, galloping through the mountains.” Understand how blessed and perfect the soul of the Bride is: she saw before the rest, saw before the rest the coming of the Word, she feels the approach of wisdom and love to herself and says to those who do not see Him: “Here He comes.” Pray that I too can say: “Here He comes.” If I can explain the word of God, I will say also: “Here he goes.” Where does he go? Not in the valleys, not in the lowlands. Where does He go? “Jumping over the mountains, jumping on the hills” (Song. 2:8). “Jumps over the mountains”, which are larger, “all jumps on the hills”, which are smaller. Doesn't jump on mountains, doesn't gallop over hills; “Here He comes, galloping through the mountains, always jumping onto the hills.” 11. “My brother is like a chamois, or... a young deer in the mountains of Bethel...” (Song 2:9). These animals are often mentioned in the Scriptures and, what is even more surprising, they often stand together. “This is what you will eat,” and after this appear “the deer and the chamois” (Cf. Deut. 14:4-5). And in this book the deer and the chamois are mentioned at the same time. These animals are - to some extent relatives and neighbors. The chamois - dorkas 8 - has very sharp eyesight, and the deer kills snakes. Which of us, in accordance with the dignity of the place and the mystery, can fully interpret this thought? (Luke 24:32) So what? We say that the chamois - dorkas - according to the teachings of those naturalists who talk about the nature of all animals, received its name from its inherent [gift]: because it is farsighted - παρά τό όξυδερκέτσερον - it is called dorkas 9 . The deer is the enemy of snakes and fights with them: he drives them out of their holes with the breath of his nostrils and, without fear of the danger of poison, feasts on them. Perhaps my Savior is also a chamois in contemplation (θεωρίαν), a deer in deeds. What are His works? He kills snakes, mortifies the power of the enemy, so I will say about Him: “You have erased... the heads of dragons on the water; You have erased the heads of dragons” (Ps. 73:13). 12. “My brother is like a chamois or... a young deer on the mountains “House of God” - for “Bethel” is translated as “House of God”. Not all mountains are the houses of God, but only the mountains of the Church. For you can also find other mountains raised and exalted “against the knowledge of God” (2 Cor. 10:5), the mountains of Egypt and Allophilus 10. Do you want to know why her Brother is like a chamois or a young deer on the mountains of Bethel? Become the mountain of the Church, the mountain-house of God, and the Bridegroom will come to you, “like a chamois or... a young deer on the mountains of Bethel...”. She sees how the Bridegroom, who had previously wandered through the mountains and hills, approached her, calls Him “jumping and leaping.” And after that, seeing that He approached her and the other girls, he says: “Here He is ... behind our wall” (Song 2:9). If you have erected a wall and built a house for God, He will come behind your wall. “Looks in at the windows” (Song 2:9). There is one window. the feeling through which the Bridegroom looks, other windows - other feelings, and He restlessly peers into them. For through what feelings does the Word of God not look? What does it mean to look into windows and how does the Bridegroom look through them? The following example will explain. Where the Bridegroom does not look, death creeps in, as we read in Jeremiah: “Behold, death creeps in at your windows” (Jer 9:21). When you “look at a woman lustfully” (See Matt. 5:28), “death climbs in through your windows.” “It flashes through the nets” (Song 2:9). “Understand that you are walking between snares and passing under threatening gallows” (Sir. 9:18). Everything is full of snares, the devil has filled everything with snares. If the Word of God reaches you and begins to “flicker among the nets,” you will say: “Our soul... is like a bird that escaped a hunter’s snare: the snare is broken, and we are freed. Blessed are we of the Lord, who made heaven and earth” (Ps. 123:7–8). So, the Bridegroom “flickers through the nets”: Jesus paved the way for you, descended to earth, cast Himself into the nets of the world; Seeing that a huge human herd was entangled in nets and no one but Him could break them, He descended into the nets, taking on a human body held by the bonds of enemy forces, and tore them apart for you, and you can say: “Here He is... behind our wall, looking through the windows, flashing through the nets.” When He appears, you will say to yourself: “My Brother answers and says: Arise, go, My beloved” (Song. 2:10); I have made a way for you, I have broken the nets - come to Me, My beloved. Arise, go, My beloved, My beautiful, My dove.” Why does He say: “Get up”, why does He say: “Hurry”? For your sake I endured the fury of storms (Matthew 8:23–26), endured the waves that besieged you; “My soul became sad for you even to death” (Matthew 26:38); I rose from the dead, broke the sting of death, broke the bonds of hell. Therefore I say to you: “Get up, go, My beloved, My beautiful, My dove, for the winter has already passed, the rain has passed, ... flowers have appeared on the earth” (Song 2:10-12). Having risen from the dead, having pacified the storm, I restored silence (Matthew 8:23–26). And since, according to the law of the flesh, from the Virgin and Father, “I was born and grew in wisdom and stature” (Luke 2:52), “flowers appeared on the earth, the time has come to cut them” (Song 2:12). Cutting is absolution. For it is said: “Every... branch that remains with Me that bears fruit, My Father purges, that it may bear more fruit” (cf. John 15:2). Bring fruit, and the former, barren in you, will be cut off. For “the time of cutting comes, the voice of turtledoves... is heard in our country” (Song 2:12). It is not without reason that during sacrifices, [as it is told] in the Holy Book, “a pair of turtle doves and two young doves” are taken (Lev. 5:7). Here the meaning is the same, so it is not said separately about a pair of doves, but about “a pair of turtle doves and two young doves.” The dove is the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit, when speaking about great and secret shrines, which many cannot comprehend, is designated by the name of the turtle dove, a bird that always nests on the tops of mountains and treetops. In the valleys and in what easily reaches people, the [image of] a dove appears. When the Savior honored us with the acceptance of human [nature] and came to earth, and there were then many sinners near the Jordan, the Holy Spirit does not turn into a turtle dove, but becomes a dove, and among us, among the multitude of people, a tame bird flies. The turtledove appeared, for example, to Moses and one of the prophets, who retired to the mountains and deserts and there listened to the speeches of God. So, “the voice of the turtledove is heard in our country, and the fig tree bears its fruit” (Song 2:12–13). “Take the likeness of the fig tree; when its branches become soft and put out leaves, you know that summer is near” (Matthew 24:32). The Word of God wants to announce to us that after winter, after storms in souls, the harvest is approaching, and says: “The fig tree has borne its fruits, the vines have blossomed, spread their fragrance” (Song 2:13), the flowers are blooming, the time will come - and there will be clusters. 13. “Arise, My beloved, My beautiful, My dove” (Song. 2:13). The girls do not hear these words, explained by us earlier; only the Bride, talking with the Groom, hears them. And we want to hear His speech, saying to the Bride: “Get up, go, My beloved” - He does not address the girls, does not say: “Get up,” but: “Stand up, Go, My beloved, My beautiful, My dove, under the shadow of the rock" (Song. 2:13-14). And Moses stood under the shadow of the rock when he saw God from behind (Exodus 33:23). “In the shadow [of the fortifications] before the wall” ( Song 2:14 ). First, approach the [fortification] in front of the wall, and then you can enter where the rock wall is. “Show me your face” (Song 2:14). “Even ... to this day” (2 Cor. 3:14) this is said to the Bride, until she has the boldness to “unveil her face to behold the glory of the Lord” (Compare 2 Cor. 3:18). She is adorned and adorned, so she is told: “Show me your face.” Never before has her voice been so sweet as to deserve the words: “Let Me hear your voice” (Song. 2:14). When did she learn to speak - be silent and listen, Israel! (Deuteronomy 27:9) - and she knows what to say, and her voice became sweet to the Bridegroom, according to the prophecy: “My reasoning will be sweet to Him,” - now the Bridegroom exclaims to her: “Let Me hear your voice, for your voice is sweet.” If you open your face to the Word of God, the Bridegroom will say to you: “Your voice is sweet and your face is beautiful” (Song. 2:14). Therefore, let us stand up and pray to God, so that we too may become worthy of the Bridegroom, the Word, Wisdom, Christ Jesus, “To whom be glory and dominion forever and ever.” Amen!" (1 Pet. 4:11). Difficult place to translate. The Hebrew name for the incense "stakti", which Origen uses as a synonym for myrrh in both the first and second homily, is consonant with the Greek otaktgi "dripping", which is why Origen associates it with drops. Lit.: “A bunch of stacti” - that is, “guttae or stillae” - both of these words mean “drops”. – Approx. lane Stumbling block (Greek). – Approx. lane Lit.: "cousin." – Approx. lane Jerusalem in Hebrew, as in Greek and Latin, is feminine, so it is compared to a woman. – Approx. lane Apparently, there is a possible allusion to “In the beginning was the Word” (John 1:1), supported by the fact that the Greek. the name of papyrus used as writing material. – Approx. lane Lit.: “in the form of a dove”; in Hebrew, “Spirit” is feminine, so He is a “dove,” in the Synod. translated as “descended like a dove.” – Approx. lane Lit.: “part of the arm from the elbow to the hand.” – Approx. lane “Chamois” (Greek). – Approx. lane Origen derives the word dorkas from δέρκομαι - “to see.” – Approx. lane Greek "foreigners"; This is what the Septuagint calls the Philistines. – Approx. lane Later glossa. – Approx. lane You might be interested in: