Беседа 15. Толкование на Песн. 5:17–6

Song 5:17. Has your brother gone away, kind in wives? Where did your brother evade? And we will seek Him with you. Song 6:1. My brother went to his vertograd, into the phials of aroma, pastured in the vertograds and collected crins. Song 6:2. I am my brother, and my brother is me, shepherding in the krineh. Song 6:3. You are my good neighbor like good will, red like Jerusalem, terror like slain armies. Song 6:4. Turn Your eyes away from Me, for You have cried out to Me. Your hair is like a flock of goats that rose out of Gilead. Song 6:5. Your teeth are like a flock of shorn animals, even rising from the font, all giving birth to twins, and there is no childless in them: like scarlet rope is your mouth, and your conversation is red. Song 6:6. Like conversion is the thorn of your cheek, except for your silence. Song 6:7. There are sixty queens, and eighty concubines, and young men, of whom there is no number. Song 6:8. My dove is one, My perfect dove, one is one of its mother, one is chosen by the one who gave birth to it. It is testified about the Apostle Philip that he was from the city of Andreev and Petrov. For, it seems to me, it is to the praise of Philip that he was a fellow citizen of the brothers, who were the first to arouse astonishment at what was told about them in the Gospel. For Andrew, as indicated by the Baptist who is the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world, himself understood the sacrament, following in the footsteps of the one indicated and finding out where He was and preaching to his brother that he had come, the one foretold by prophecy. And the brother, almost having preceded his hearing with faith, surrenders with all his soul to this Lamb and, with a change of name, is transformed by the Lord into something most Divine, instead of Simon he is named and made Peter. After many years, after many Epiphanies, the Lord taught Abraham and Sarah a blessing in names, making Abraham a father and Sarah a ruler by transforming the names. Likewise, Jacob, after the all-night struggle, is awarded the name Israel and strength. And the great Peter, not gradually growing, achieved this grace, but together he heard his brother, and believed the Lamb, and was perfected by faith, and, clinging to the stone, became Peter. So, this Philip, a worthy fellow citizen of so many and so great Apostles, when, having become the acquisition of the Lord, as the Gospel says: “you will find” Jesus “Philip,” he became a follower of the Word that said: “Come after Me” (John 1:43), then, approaching the true light, like a lamp, he attracted from Him the fellowship of light and illuminates Nathanael, lighting up before him. the mystery of piety by saying: “And Moses and the Prophets wrote by him that they found Jesus, who was of Nazareth of Galilee” (John 1:45). Nathanael wisely accepted this gospel, because he was fully taught by prophecy the mystery of the Lord and knew that the first Epiphany in the flesh would be from Bethlehem, and that, at the place of residence of the Nazirites, the Lord would be called a Nazarite. And therefore he pays attention to both and argues that in David’s Bethlehem, according to the economy of birth in the flesh, it was necessary for the mystery of the den, swaddling clothes and manger to take place, and Galilee (the place of residence of the pagans) would one day receive this name from the voluntary presence of the Word among the pagans. Therefore, he agrees with the one who showed him the light of knowledge and says: “Can anything good come into being from Nazareth?” (John 1:46) Then Philip becomes a guide to grace, saying: “Come and see.” As a result of this, Nathanael, leaving the fig tree of the law, the shadow of which prevented the communion of light, accepts the One who, for the sterility of good, dries up the leaves of the fig tree. That is why the Word testifies about him that he is a sincere, and not a feigned, Israeli, showing in himself the pure features of the patriarch through his unflattering will. For the Lord says: “Behold, truly an Israelite, in him there is no flattery” (John 1:47). And as for where this narrative is heading at the beginning of the conversation, this, no doubt, for listeners who are more understanding is clear from the readings proposed to us in order from the Song of Songs. Just as Andrew, by the voice of John, is guided to the Lamb, and Nathanael, enlightened by Philip, coming out of the shadow of the law that envelops him, enters into the true light, so the young women, in order to acquire the good he indicated, use for guidance a soul perfect in beauty, saying to her: “When did your brother, good among women, go away? Where did your brother evade? And we will seek Him with you." It is not without reason that virgin souls propose a question to their mentor. For at first he spoke about what the Brother of the Bride is, in the question preceding this saying, saying: “What is your Brother, good among women?” And having been taught this by the said signs, namely, that He is “white and dark-skinned,” and has other features with which the bride portrays the appearance of the Desired One, they ask about his whereabouts. Therefore they say: “When did your brother go away, or when did he turn away?” So that, without a doubt, having found out where He is, they bow down in the place where His feet stood, and, having known where they had turned away, they themselves would stand in such a position in which His glory would be visible to them, whose appearance becomes salvation for those who behold, as the Prophet says: “Illuminate Your face, and we will be saved” (Ps. 79:4). And the teacher, like Philip, who said: “Come and see,” leads everyone to catch the Seeked One and instead of saying: “See,” indicate the place where the Seeked One is and where he is ready to go, for he says: “My brother has come down to His heirloom, to the place of fragrance.” In these words the Scripture signifies only the place where the Bridegroom is. And from these words, the mentor shows in her speech what He means and where he directs his gaze, saying: “to shepherd in the vertograds and collect crins.” Here is the sensual direction of the Word to the young women, by which they find out where the Bridegroom is and where he directs his gaze. Without a doubt, with the help of spiritual review, one must learn what is useful in this inspired Scripture. Therefore, when we hear that “Brother has come down to His own city,” we recognize from what has been said the mystery of the Gospel, because each name makes clear to us this mysterious teaching. God, who appeared in the flesh, because He shone forth from Judas and illuminated the pagans sitting in darkness and the shadow of death, beautifully and decently accepts the name of Brother from His disdained sister, the Jewish people, into the eternal union. The word “descended” makes it clear that he descended for the sake of the one who descended from Jerusalem to Jericho and fell among the robbers; therefore He Himself descends through the descent of those who have become the prey of enemies, and this means the accomplished condescension from ineffable greatness to the humility of our nature. And from the mysterious meaning of the word “vertograd” we learn that the true Worker of His work, us humans, plants again; for we, in the words of Pavlov, are “His burden” (1 Cor. 3:6). So, since in the beginning in paradise He cultivated human nature, which the Heavenly Father planted, then when “the solitary marvelous one devoured” our hillside, and the “crowd” of the Divine field (Ps. 79, 14), He descended to make the desert again a garden, adorned with the planting of virtues, by carefully caring for such plants, opening in the word the free flow of the pure and Divine source of teaching. And the “places of aroma” (more precisely: phials of aroma) in the description of beauty are taken in praise of the cheeks, with whose assistance spiritual food is fragmented in those who feed; the word shows that here is the residence of the Bridegroom, since we know that the Bridegroom does not dwell in a soul that has neglected virtues, but perhaps in one who, according to the teaching stated above, will become a vial of aroma, exuding fragrant ointments; such a one, having become a cup of wisdom, receives into himself Divine and pure wine, from which there is joy in the one who receives it. And the word that follows teaches us in what pastures the flocks of the good shepherd grow fat. For the sheep are not driven out into some deserted or thorn-covered places to pluck grassy greens there, but the aromas from the vertograds are offered to them for food, and instead of grass there is krin, which, says the bride, is collected by the Shepherd to feed the sheep. This wise teaching offers us a word in this, namely, that the Nature and Power that embraces beings, containing everything in Itself, makes the purity of those who receive it a place for Itself and a receptacle, in which the hillside, variously cultivated by virtues, is decorated with krin flowers and irrigated with fruitful aromas. For krins mysteriously mean clarity and purity of understanding, and the fragrance of aromas means aversion from any sinful stench. So, according to the bride, the steward of the verbal flock does something similar to this, grazing in vertograds, and to feed the sheep, plucking and collecting crins, which he offers to the sheep through the great Paul, who from the Divine storehouse gives us this food from crins, that is, “the tree is true, the tree is honest, the tree is righteous, the tree is loving, the tree is most pure, the tree is pure.” good praise, even as virtue, and whatever praise" (Phil. 4, 8). These, in my opinion, are the krins with which the flock of the good shepherd and teacher is fed. The word that follows this, which is uttered by a pure and undefiled bride, saying: “I am my Brother, and my Brother is mine,” is the rule and definition of perfection in virtue. For we understand from this that a soul that has achieved purity must have nothing in itself except God, and not pay attention to anything else, but only be pure from every material matter and concept, so that, having completely and completely transformed itself into the mental and immaterial, it can make itself the most clear image of the beauty of the archetype. And just as someone who sees a list in a picture, exactly taken from the original, claims that there is one image in both the list and the original, saying that the beauty of the original is preserved in the image, and it is clearly visible in imitation; Likewise, the one who says: “I am my Brother, and my Brother is me,” claims about herself that she has become conformed to Christ, having perceived her own beauty, the primitive bliss of our nature, adorned in the image and likeness of the first true and only beauty. And what, for example, happens to a mirror, when it is arranged skillfully and in accordance with the need, then on its clean surface exactly shows the features of the face visible in it: the same thing happened with the soul; Having prepared herself in accordance with the need and having rejected from herself all material defilement, she reflected in herself a pure image of undamaged beauty. Therefore, the following speech is uttered by this gifted and animated mirror: “since I see the face of the Brother in the whole circle, therefore the beauty of His image is completely visible in me.” It is precisely these words that Paul imitates, saying that he lives to God, having become dead to the world, and that Christ alone lives in him. For, having said: “I must live, O Christ” (Phil. 1:21), he loudly cries out through this: not one of the human and material passions lives in me, nor lust, nor sorrow, nor irritability, nor fear, nor timidity, nor confusion, nor arrogance, nor insolence, nor resentment, nor envy, nor any vindictive disposition, nor covetousness, nor anything else that defiles the soul by any connection. But He alone lives in me, in Whom there is none of the above. For, having shaken off everything that is seen outside of this nature, I have nothing in myself that is not in It. Therefore, “I have a hedgehog to live, Christ,” or, as the bride says: “I am my Brother, and my Brother is mine.” He is sanctification, purity, incorruption, light, truth and everything like that, which provides pasture for my soul not on some meadow grass or among bushes, but in the lordships of the saints, because the nature of the crins with the whiteness of its good color leads us to this thought. So, “He who grazes in Krineh” leads His flock to the meadows of Krineh for this purpose, so that “the lightness of the Lord our God may be upon us” (Ps. 89:17). For, of course, what is fed depends on the type of food. I'll say this as an example; Suppose there is an empty vessel made of glass; everything that is put in is clearly visible in it, no matter what is put there, whether black or something purer and brighter. Therefore, He who put the whiteness of the krins into the souls makes the souls themselves white through them, because what is put in is visible through and through from the outside. But in order to bring this idea to us with greater clarity, let’s say that the soul is nourished by virtues, and the virtues are mysteriously called krins. Whoever, with good behavior, is filled with them, makes himself obvious in life, showing the appearance of each virtue in his morals. May chastity, justice, courage, prudence and all things be pure in you, “great,” according to the word of the Apostle, true, great honest, great loving, great righteous, great pure, great praiseworthy, whatever virtue, and great praise.” For all this, being in the soul, reveals itself to be pure life, both adorning the one who possesses it, and itself being adorned by those who receive it. So, in the immediate aftermath of what has been said so far, let us hear what is worthy of the one who has placed her trust in her Brother and who has accepted the beauty of the Beloved in her own image, from the one who glorifies those who glorify Him. For the Word says to the bride: “You are my good neighbor like good will, red like Jerusalem, fear like slain armies.” That the heavenly army, in the hearing of the shepherds, sends out “glory to God in the highest” for his favor “in men” when they saw the world born on earth (Luke 2:14), and that the Lord of all creation calls Jerusalem the city of the “Great King” (Matthew 5:35), this is known to everyone who has read the Gospel books, and therefore he cannot help but know about what beauty The Word testifies to the bride by comparing her to Jerusalem and favor. For, as clearly, the Word shows by this that the soul in its successful ascent has risen significantly and is already reaching for the miracles of the Masters. For if in the highest God, who is in the bosom of the Father, by “good pleasure in men,” enters into communion with flesh and blood so that peace may occur on earth, then it is clear that she who likened her beauty to this good pleasure imitates Christ with success, thereby becoming for others what Christ became for human nature, as the imitator of Christ Paul did, excommunicating himself from life in order to become his own. to atone for the salvation of Israel through suffering, saying: “I prayed that I myself might be separated from Christ according to my brethren, my relatives in the flesh” (Rom. 9:3). What was said to the bride is rightly applied to this: such is the beauty of your soul, such was the favor of the Master towards us, Who “has exhausted Himself from receiving the form of a slave” (Phil. 2:7), gave himself as a redemption price for the life of the world, “for the sake of poverty, this one is rich for us, so that” we will live by His death and “through poverty we will be enriched” (2 Cor. 8:9), and in the form of a slave We will reign him. And the greatness of the bride and the beauty of Jerusalem equally point to the “high Jerusalem,” the free, and the “mother” of the free (Gal. 4:20), which, as we learned from the words of the Masters, is the “city of the Great King.” For having contained within itself the Incontainable One, so that God both lives and walks in it, having been adorned with the beauty of him who lives in her, she becomes the heavenly Jerusalem, having taken upon herself his beauty. The beauty and decoration of the Royal City, without a doubt, is the beauty of the Tsar Himself. For, according to the word of the psalmody, He serves with decoration and beauty, Whom the prophecy says: “By Thy beauty and Thy goodness: come and prosper, and reign for the sake of truth and meekness and righteousness” (Ps. 44:5), for by them, that is, by truth, righteousness and meekness, the Divinity is distinguished. Therefore, according to such beauties, the soul that has formed itself becomes adorned, like Jerusalem, flaunting the Royal decoration. But this is obviously a compliment to the beauty of the bride, expressed by comparison with favor and Jerusalem. We also have no doubt that the continuation of the speech serves to praise the bride. But in what sense such praise is given to one who has been awarded this good reputation for himself, this cannot be known at first glance. For it reads like this: “horror as” the Forces are “inflicted.” Another, following what was discussed earlier, will perhaps say that by comparison with the premium nature in the word, the bride is exalted with praise. For there are “mastered powers”, where are the Powers that always dominate, the Dominions that possess everything, the Thrones that are unshakably exalted, the Principalities that remain unslave, the Powers that unceasingly bless God, where the soaring of the Seraphim does not stop and does not pass away, where the Cherubim do not cease to adhere to the high and exalted Throne, where the servants who do the work do not cease serving and the listening word (Ps. 102:20-21). So, since these powers were established by God, and the order of the rational and worldly powers remains forever unfused, since no vice perverts the order, therefore the soul, in imitation of these powers, doing everything “in order and gracefully”, arouses the surprise that happens to these instituted powers. For the meaning of the word “horror” is interpreted by the word “astounding”, but by the word “astonishing” we mean surprise, we do not sin against the truth. But after this, the readable saying makes it doubtful by what person it was uttered, and to whom it was said: “Turn away your eyes from Me, for you have cried out to me.” According to some, the Lord said this to a pure soul, but I suppose that it is much more decent to apply this saying to the bride. For I find the meaning of what the word expresses to correspond to it. And as I see it, I’ll state it briefly. In many places of the Inspired Scripture, I hear, it is said that God has wings, according to the words of the prophecy: “You covered me with the shelter of Your wing” (Ps. 16:8); and again: “You will trust under His wing” (Ps. 90:4); This is how Moses describes this in his great song when he says: “He stretched out His wings and received them” (Deut. 32:11); This is also what the Lord said to Jerusalem: “Your fellow children have longed for as much as you gather your chicks under your wings” (Matthew 23:37). Yet this, as others will say, looking at the connection of speech, is not far from the thought proposed here. Therefore, if on some mysterious basis the inspired word about the Divine nature determines that He has wings, and the first dispensation of man testifies that our nature was created in the image and likeness of God, then, of course, the one created in the image was in everything like the prototype. But according to the Holy Scriptures, the prototype is winged. Therefore, human nature was prepared to be winged in such a way that even in the wings it had the likeness of God. It is obvious that the name of wings in some figurative image of view will be taken in some Divine sense, so that the name of wings signifies strength, bliss, incorruptibility and the like. So, since this was also in man, while he was like God in everything, but after this the inclination to vice deprived us of such wings (for, having become outside the shelter of God’s wings, we lost our own wings), therefore God’s grace appeared, enlightening us, so that, putting aside ungodliness and worldly lusts, we would again be inspired by holiness and righteousness (Titus 2:12 ). Therefore, if this is not far from the truth, then it is fitting for the bride to recognize the grace shown to her by the eyes of God. For at the same time God looked at us with the eyes of love for mankind, and we were inspired with primitive gratitude. This, I think, is shown by the word in what was said, about which, praying, David in the sixteenth psalm says to the Lord: “let your eyes see what is right,” that is, mine. For he continues: “You have tempted my heart, you have visited me at night, you have tempted me, and iniquity is not found in me” (Ps. 16:2-3). Therefore, to say: “let Thy eyes see what is right,” means the same thing as “let Thy eyes not see what is contrary.” For whoever sees what is straight does not see what is crooked, and whoever does not see what is crooked undoubtedly sees what is straight. Therefore, by removing the opposite, the Prophet shows what is good in the Divine eyes, with which the soul, which was rendered wingless for disobedience to the primordial ones, is again inspired. So, we understood this from what was said: when Your eyes look at me, then they turn away from what is contrary, because they do not see anything in me that is contrary to me. From this it happens that from Your eyes I am given wings again, and for my virtues I regain the wings of a dove, with which I acquire the ability to fly, so that I can continue my flight and rest in the same peace with which God rested from His works. These words are again followed by a description of the bride’s beauty, with each feature that contributes to the fullness of beauty being called in the word by some decent likeness. For they are praised - the beauty of her hair, the position of her teeth, the color of her lips, the sweetness of her voice, her blush. Moreover, the bride’s praise of everything named is complemented by some decent comparison and juxtaposition. For the hairs are likened to the flocks of goats that came out of Gilead, and the shorn flocks, boasting of double offspring, are likened to the praise of teeth; the lips are likened to the scarlet rope, and the cheeks are adorned with the addition of a thorn. It literally reads like this: “Your hair is like a flock of goats, even as you ascended out of Gilead. Your teeth are like shorn flocks, even as they rise from the font, giving birth to twins, and there are no childless ones in them, like scarlet rope are your lips, and your conversation is red, like the tenderness of the thorn of your cheek, except for your silence.” Since all this has been sufficiently explored in what has been said so far, it would be unnecessary to make the speech boring by repeating the same views. But if anyone now demands a word about the same thing, then for the sake of those who have not heard previous explanations of these sayings, we will briefly retell the meaning of the riddles. Body hair has its own distinct nature from the rest of the body. When the whole body is served by the feeling force, without which the nature of life is impossible, because feeling is bodily life; We see that hair alone, being part of the body, has no part in sensitivity. This peculiarity in this part of the body is proven by the fact that the hair, neither when burning nor when cutting, does not feel pain, like other parts of the body. So, since, according to Pavlov, the glory of women is their hair (1 Cor. 11:15), adorning the head with braids, then by praising the hair of the bride we learn that the hair seen on the head of the bride, for which the Church is famous, should be the most perfect of feelings, covering the senses with wisdom, just as the parable says: “wisdom hides the senses” (Prov. 10:14). For them, sight does not serve to distinguish what is good, it is not taste that tastes what is good, it is not smell, not touch, nor any other sense that is entrusted with the judgment of the beautiful; on the contrary, after the mortification of every feeling, with one soul they touch and desire the blessings that are presented in their minds, and thus glorify their wife - the Church, neither arrogant with honors, nor losing their spirit from cowardice in sorrowful circumstances; but even if they were cut for faith in Christ, even if they were thrown into beasts or into fire, even if they were forced to endure other sorrowful things, when undergoing torture they show the appearance of insensibility of the hair. Such was Elijah, who came from Gilead in a hairy and withered body, covered with goat skin, undaunted by any threats of the tormentor. Therefore, all those who, out of imitation of the generosity of this Prophet, stand above the whole world, “deprived, sorrowful, embittered, in the mountains and in dens and in the pits of the earth, of whom the world is not worthy” (Heb. 11:37-38), - all of them, as if in the form of a herd, visible around the Head of all, become the glory of the Church, together with the inhabitant of Gilead, ascending to heavenly grace. The animal goat is taken in praise of hair, perhaps either because by its natural properties this animal is made capable of growing hair, so that by nature it is overgrown with hair, it serves as a mysterious sign of beauty in the hair, or because the goat walks on rocks without slipping, rushes along the tops of mountains, boldly makes its way along impassable and steep paths, which is very applicable to those who succeed on the unsmooth path of virtue. And with greater right, perhaps, another will say: goats serve in praise of the heads, because this animal is taken by the legislator in many cases for legitimate priestly service. And I know that in the mysterious legends of the parable between the four, “even those who walk safely,” one animal is considered to be “the hedgehog that goes well,” and this is “the goat, the leader of the flock” (Prov. 30, 29, 31). Conjecturally, we mean the following. Every industrial activity begun by one is transmitted from him to many. Thus, Scripture, having called Fauvel the inventor of the art of forging, traces to him the knowledge of all those who after him mastered the processing of iron. So in shepherding the first was Abel, and in agriculture Cain; Scripture calls Nevrod the leader in hunting, and Noah in cultivating grapes; it says about Enos that he began to trust in God (Gen. 4:26). And much similar information can be gleaned from the Holy Scriptures about the one who alone laid the foundation for something, and the work of imitation entered into life. Thus, since Elijah was primarily an example of the highest degree of Divine zeal, then all those who after him, imitating his zeal, followed in the same footsteps of the prophet’s boldness, became the herd of those who led in such a life; and they constitute the glory and praise of the Church, replacing the beauty of hair, which is unusual and alien to the life of feelings. The Word also fills the praise of teeth with similar qualities. They may be those who feed the body of the Church; and it wants to see them always clean, as if they had just come out of the font, never having excess hair, as after a recent shorn, but in terms of the offspring of virtues, double-fertile, fathers of pure purity, seen both in the soul and in the body, so that not giving birth to the best is something impossible for these teeth. The rope, placed on the lips, mysteriously makes it clear the measured service to the word, which the Prophet called storage and the door of the fence (Ps. 140, 3), when the mouth is opened at the right time and closed for the word at the right time. And that rope is the name of measure, we learned this from the prophecy of Zechariah. “Verb” in it “Angel” had in his hands “already measuring the land” (Zechariah 2:13). The word is then especially in moderation when it is embellished with a bashful blush, which serves as a mysterious sign of the Blood of the One who redeemed us. If someone, like Paul, has “Christ speaking” in himself (2 Cor. 13:3), who redeemed us with His Blood, then he has “already measured” on his lips, decorated with the fact that it is bloody in color. The word that follows this is the interpretation of the previous riddle. For the Word refers to the “scarlet rope” as “red conversation,” which again means timeliness and proportionality. What is exactly beautiful and appears precisely in its time is neither premature nor untimely. By “conversion” the “thorn” decorating the apple of the cheek, testifies to some great improvement of the bride in goodness; for she makes it known that there is no other treasure prepared for her, but that she herself serves as a treasure and contains in herself the preparation of all good things. For just as “conversion” contains everything that is edible in a spike, so the visible beauty of life shows that there is treasure within it. This is the secret treasure of hopes, this own fruit of the soul, contained in a valiant life, as in some kind of conversion. What was said: “except for your silence,” in my opinion, has this meaning: praise for you is not so much composed of what is visible, of what is indicated in words, but more so from what is covered in silence, avoiding indications in words. For just as by silence we mean what is outside the word, so whoever by the word means what is outside silence will not sin. For we keep silent what we cannot express in words. Therefore, if anything is outside the word, then of course it is silence; it certainly follows that what is outside the silence must be recognized as the word. Consequently, he who said: “except for your silence” clearly expresses the following in words: although what can be depicted by the word “except for your silence” is beautiful and great; however, what is outside the word, covered in silence, inexpressible and inexpressible, is, without a doubt, more amazing than what is expressed. But let us listen to the continuation of the praise; their meaning is similar to the well-known vault, in which a certain stone, blocking the mouth, makes it impossible for the virgins who came with their flocks to use the water, but Jacob, having rebelled, rolls the stone away from the mouth, and from what the cattle were watered, then, filling it with water, gives the sheep the freedom to enjoy the moisture. Therefore, what do we liken to such a treasure? “There are sixty queens, and there are ten concubines, and there are youths, of whom there is no number. My dove is one, my perfect dove, one is its mother, chosen by the one who gave birth to her.” So, who will roll away the stone of this obscurity for us? Who can draw the water of concepts that is so deep that it is inaccessible to our minds? But the best thing, it seems to me, is to testify to your hearing that this is possible to know only by those to whom the Apostle says: “be rich in everything, in all speech and in all understanding” (1 Cor. 1:5). And our poverty is not able to embrace the treasures offered in the word. However, in order not to fall under the charge of inactivity, for the sake of Him who made it a law for us to test the Scriptures (John 5:39), let us not be lazy and shed at least a little sweat over this. Therefore, we say that the wisdom contained in these words in praising the bride offers us some subtle teaching. And this is the teaching. Beings are not created and recreated in the same sequence and not in the same order. When the nature of the creature was initially brought into existence by God’s power, in each being the end was inseparably connected with the beginning, because everything that came from non-existence into being, together with the beginning, received perfection. But human nature is also one of the created, and it, in the likeness of other creatures, did not gradually come to perfection, but from the very beginning of existence had within itself the perfection with which it was created, and brought into existence, as Scripture says, “in the image and likeness of God” (Gen. 1:26), which shows the highest and most perfect of goods. For is it possible to find anything higher than likeness to God? Thus, in the first creation, inseparably from the beginning, the end became visible, and nature began its existence as perfection. But then, due to its close connection with vice, having become accustomed to death, it withdrew from being in goodness; then he does not suddenly perceive perfection, like the first composition, but in some way reaches a higher state, with some consistency and order, little by little destroying in himself the addiction to the opposite. For in the first dispensation nothing prevented the perfection of nature from coming into being, because there was no sin. And with secondary re-creation, the return to the original good is necessarily accompanied by a long transition. Why is our heart, bound by material addiction due to vice, as if breaking away from some crust lying on it, little by little purified by more correct behavior, and renounces connection with the worst. Therefore, we have been taught that with the Father “the mansions are many” (John 14:2), because reward is prepared for everyone, for each according to the degree of his inclination towards good and removal from evil. For some people barely begin to eat the best food, as if emerging only from some depth of a vicious life in order to partake of the truth; and the other, due to his diligence, already had a certain increase in the best; another has grown most by the desire for goods, and whoever holds on to the average ascent to heights, another has already crossed the middle; some surpassed even these, and others were ahead of the latter; others extend beyond them in the current to the heavenly. And completely in accordance with the diverse differences in wills, God accepts everyone in his own rank, giving to everyone who is worthy of what, combining rewards with benefits into one for the higher, and proportioning for the lower. And in our understanding, this most wisely expounds the Word in the proposed sayings, separately presenting to us in what is said the difference of souls looking at the Bridegroom. For he calls some “young men,” namely those whose multitude has exceeded the ability to express them in number; about others he says that he is a “concubine,” and about others that they are “queens.” Having determined the number of concubines at eighty, and saying that the number of queens extends to sixty, he places above all the single seen perfect dove, about which it is expressed that she is “the only one of her mother, chosen by the one who gave birth to her.” So, by these Divine sayings we are led to the idea that some, who have barely freed themselves from some kind of hidden delusion in the depths of the womb, being still newborns and unable to articulate a word, consenting to the acceptance of faith without reason, are seen in countless multitudes. They believed that the word of the sacrament was saving, containing, however, a truth that was not supported by any knowledge and certainty gleaned from Scripture. These are the so-called “youths” because they pass through a young spiritual age; born of the word of faith, they have not yet become, by proper growth, such as to come to maturity for marriage, to reach a perfect husband, according to the measure of marriageable age, and to be able to conceive in the womb the fear of the Lord and give birth to the spirit of salvation; on the contrary, due to infancy and imperfection of understanding, they live as if with an unreasonable disposition. However, they are also among those being saved, as the Prophet says: “You have saved men and beasts, O Lord” (Ps. 35:7), calling the foolish part of those being saved cattle. But in those who, with proper care, have grown in understanding and have already left childhood, according to the indication of the word, we recognize a twofold difference. For those and other souls are co-partners with the Word; but some cleave with some kind of disposition of fiery love, such as were the soul of David and the soul of Paul, one of whom says: “It is good for me to cleave to God” (Ps. 72:28), and the other: no one will separate us from the love of Christ, “neither life, nor death, neither present nor future, nor anything else that exists” (Rom. 8:35-39). Other souls, out of fear of punishment, avoid adulterous temptations. For they too remain in incorruption and holiness, but guided more by fear than by love alone, they do not allow evil to come to them. Therefore, those who, with a more perfect disposition, through love for incorruption, have entered into unity with God’s purity, are called “queens” by fellowship in the kingdom; and those who, out of fear of threat, work in virtue, the Word calls “concubines.” For not one of them is able to become the mother of the King and an accomplice in the rank. For how would this be possible for a soul that has not yet accepted the insubordination and autocracy of a valiant way of thinking, but is kept from communicating with evil by slavish fear? And an example of what has been said about queens is their likeness to those deemed worthy to stand at the right hand, to whom the King says: “Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you” (Matthew 25:34). The second and lowest rank includes those to whom the Lord says: “Fear him who has power, if he kills him, he will be thrown into the wilds of fire” (Luke 12:5). This difference between the two ranks, it seems to me, mysteriously makes it possible to see the difference in numbers. Why am I saying this? Six commandments, for the fulfillment of which the kingdom of God is prepared for the gums. Let us imagine that each of them is a master’s talent, which a good and faithful servant must increase tenfold in his work, so that in this way, being faithful in a little, and being placed over many, he can enter into the joy of his Lord. So, if for these six commandments there is in the soul the communion of the kingdom (the perfection of doing each of the commandments is to increase it tenfold, as that good servant said: one of your talents has acquired ten talents), then as a result of this we find that one queen increases to sixty, for ten times the fulfillment of the six commandments is acceptable into the communion of the kingdom, so that one, divided, according to the diverse distinctive properties of the commandments, into parts, and in each success received its own special image, appeals to many. Therefore, one is divided into sixty queens, being divided according to the types of commandments, and the bride becomes a participant in the kingdom of Christ, alone converted into a whole tribe of queens, numbered according to so many merits in relation to the commandments. If, not without reason, we have accepted this idea that the six commandments, cultivated up to tenfold in one soul, are mysteriously signified by the sixtieth queens, then as a result of this we will say that in a similar mysterious sense, the mystery of the “eights” is depicted by the eighty (Ps. 6:11), looking at which, those guided by fear are kept from communicating with evil. For this is what we found out in the psalmody, in the inscription of which there is the word: “eighth,” where the cries of those being punished are clearly heard, out of fear of what is expected, bending the ear of the Judge to mercy. For the one who turns his gaze to the “eights” says to the terrible Judge: “Lord, do not reprove me with Your wrath, nor punish me with Your wrath. Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am weak; heal me, O Lord, for my bones are crumpled” (Ps. 6:2–3), and what follows this is continued in the petition to the incorruptible Judge, where the one praying complains that in death there is no remembrance of God (Ps. 6:6). For those condemned to weeping and gnashing of teeth, is it possible to find joy in the remembrance of God? Meanwhile, this is what the Prophet says in another place: remembrance of God produces joy (Ps. 76:4). This and that, something similar to this, crying out to God, the one who is afraid of the eighth comes to a feeling of communion with mercy, saying: “For he has heard the voice of my crying” (Ps. 6:9). And since the Holy Scriptures show many blessed fears, then, similar to what was said about the six commandments, it will be possible to multiply them tenfold, so that one taught by psalmody, how the fear of the Lord succeeds, if one turns away “from evil” and does “good” (Ps. 33:15), like some talent or skill, will increase the wealth of the fear of God tenfold by doing. And thus, the soul that occupies second place after the queen, which does good out of fear and not out of love, is raised to the number eighty; She shows every kind of success, carried out out of fear, in her life, unintegrated and not hidden; so the concept of this eighth is expanded by increasing up to tenfold, and the soul, which approaches goodness out of slavish fear, and not out of unbridled love, becomes a concubine instead of the queen, the fear of the “eighth”, increased up to tenfold by success, having come to the number of “eighty”. She, who was born illegitimately and ignoble for a time, according to history, is commanded not to live with the queen until the end, since the slave family does not have a royal heritage on a par with the free-born. It is said: “Treason to the slave and her son, for the son of a slave should not inherit with the son of a free woman” (Gal. 4:30). If to anyone this glance at the number presented in the sayings under consideration seems forced, then let him remember that at the beginning we testified about the impossibility of achieving the truth in this and about the intention to touch upon this only with the sole purpose that these allegories would not be completely abandoned without applying our labor to them. However, if according to what is written: “perfect love casts out fear” (1 John 4:18), then let fear, having been transformed, become love. What is saved then turns out to be a unit due to the mutual union of all with each other in affinity with a single good, due to the perfection that exists in the dove. For we understand something similar in the following word, which says: “My dove is one, my perfect dove, one is her mother, chosen by her who bore her.” And this is more clearly interpreted in the Gospel by the Lord’s word. For, having invested all power into His disciples with blessing, He also bestows other blessings by the holy utterance of words to the Father, and adds, as the principality of blessings, so that even with any difference of will, they are no longer divided in judgment about good, but all remain one, united by one and only good, so that with the unity of the Holy Spirit, as the Apostle says, bound by the union of peace, all became one body and one spirit, “in one hope, like a calling” (Eph. 4:3.4). But it is better to literally offer the Divine sayings of the Gospel: “That you may all be one: as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be one” (John 17:21). And to those who bind into this unity is glory. And that the Holy Spirit is called glory, none of the discriminating people will contradict this, paying attention to the Lord’s own words. For he says: “The glory that you gave to Me, I gave to them” (John 17:22), because He really gave such glory to the disciples who said to them: “Receive the Holy Spirit” (John 20:22). He received this glory, which he always had, “before the world was not” (John 17:5), having put on human nature, through whose glorification by the Spirit the distribution of the glory of the Spirit is accomplished to “everything” related, beginning with the disciples. Therefore the Lord says: “The glory that you have given to me, I have given to them, that they may be one, as we are one. I am in them and You are in Me: that they may be perfect in one” (John 17:22–23). Therefore, whoever grew from a baby to a perfect husband and reached the measure of mental age, from a slave and a concubine took upon himself the rank of queen, and through dispassion and purity became worthy to partake of the glory of the Spirit, he is the perfect dove at which the Bridegroom looks, saying: “One is my dove, my perfect one: one is his mother, chosen to be the one who gave birth to her.” Of course, recognizing a tree by its fruit, we also don’t know the mother of the dove. Just as, having seen a man, we have no doubt that he is from a man, so when we were looking for the mother of the chosen dove, we realized that it was none other than this dove. For in the child, without a doubt, the nature of the one who gave birth is seen. So, since “what is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3:7), and the child is a dove, then, of course, the mother of the child is also a dove, flying from heaven to the Jordan, as John says and testifies. She is pleased by the “youths”, she is praised by the “concubines” and “queens”, because all souls of every rank have a common path to such bliss. Therefore they say: “I saw you daughters and pleased you, praised concubines and queens.” And it is common for every nature to extend its desire to the blessed and praiseworthy. Therefore, if daughters please a dove, then, of course, they themselves desire to become doves. And the fact that the dove is praised by the concubines serves as a sign that they also have zeal for the praised, until (since everyone becomes one, they have the same goal of desire in mind, no vice remains in anyone) God is “all in all”, mutually united with each other in the communion of good, in Christ Jesus our Lord. To him be glory and power forever and ever! Amen. You might be interested in: