Беседа 5. Толкование на Песн. 2, 8–17

Song 2:8. The voice of my Brother: behold, He comes galloping to the mountains and galloping to the hills: Song 2:9. My Brother is like a chamois, or a young tree on the mountains of Bethel. Behold this behind our wall, look through the windows, see through the gaps. Song 2:10. My Brother answers and says to me: Arise, come, My neighbor, My good one, My dove, Song 2:11. for now the winter is gone, the rain is gone, the rain is gone: Song 2:12. blossoming appeared on the earth, the time of circumcision has come, the voice of the turtledove was heard in our land: Song 2:13. The figs have worn out their blossom, the grapes have ripened and given off their stench. Arise, come, My neighbor, My good one, Song 2:14. My dove is covered with stone, near the entrance: show me Your image, and make Your voice heard by me: for Your voice is sweet and Your image is beautiful. Song 2:15. Give us the little foxes that destroy the grapes, and our grapes will ripen. Song 2:16. My brother to me, and I to Him, who grazes in krin, Song 2:17. until the day dies, and the canopy moves. Convert yourself, my brother, and become like a chamois or a young fawn on the mountains of the vale. In this reading, what is offered to us from the wisdom of the Song of Songs leads us to desire to contemplate higher blessings, and brings sadness into our souls, in some way instilling despair at the impossibility of comprehending the incomprehensible. For how can a person not feel sadness when he sees that the soul, brought to purity, after having been elevated by love to the communion of good in so many ascents, apparently, as the Apostle says, has not yet comprehended what it seeks? Although, looking at these ascents, which were accomplished according to what was said in previous conversations, I pleased her for the ascent in which she recognized the sweet apple tree, distinguishing it from the barrenness of forest trees, and made the shade of the apple tree desirable, and having enjoyed the fruit, she entered the spoon of joy (she calls joy wine, from which the hearts of those who partake are glad), and entered into love, affirmed “in the world,” surrounded by apples, and having received the arrow of love in the heart, again in the hands of the Sagittarius itself becomes an arrow, directed by the hands of the strong to the goal of truth. Seeing this and the like, I reasoned that the soul, elevated to so many degrees, had reached the very pinnacle of bliss. But, as far as can be seen, what has been accomplished so far is still only the beginning of the ascent, because the soul calls all these ascents not some kind of insight or clear comprehension of the truth, but the voice of the desired, the properties of which differ by hearing, and not by understanding, and are known and amusing. Therefore, if a soul, exalted as much as, as we know, Paul was exalted when he was caught up to the third heaven, does not yet appear to have exactly reached what is set before it; what, in all likelihood, will happen to us, or what can we conclude about ourselves, who have not even come close to the threshold of the “mysteries” that await our observation? And the incomprehensibility of what is sought can be seen from what is said by the soul. “The voice of my Brother,” she says; not the appearance, not the face, not the outline, indicating the nature of the sought-after, but the “voice”, which provides only a guess, and not firm evidence of who is issuing the voice. For that what is expressed resembles more like a simile, and not like any undoubted certainty of comprehension, this is clear from the fact that the word is not limited to one meaning and has more than one image in mind; on the contrary, from what has been said it is clear that the soul in these visions is carried away by many things, thinking to see something else, and not constantly dwelling on the same features of what it has perceived. It is said: “Behold He comes,” not standing still, not waiting for the gaze directed at Him to recognize Him while stopping, but snatching itself out of sight before the soul has come to perfect knowledge. For she continues: “he goes galloping to the mountains and galloping to the hills” (Song 2:8). And although it is now recognized as a “chamois,” it is again likened to a young deer. The soul says: “My Brother is like a roe, or a young tree on the mountains of Bethel” (Song 2:9). Thus, what is comprehended always has one or another features. This, according to the initial concept, brings me into sadness, plunging me into despair to achieve an exact understanding of the Supreme. However, having placed our hope in God, who gives “the word of good tidings with much power” (Psalm 67:12), we must try to adapt this review consistently and in some connection to what we understood before. “The voice of my Brother,” says the soul, “and immediately adds: “Behold He cometh.” What do we mean by this? The fact that, perhaps, what has been said foreshadows the economy of God the Word revealed to us by the Gospel, both foreshadowed by the Prophets and fully revealed by the Theophany of the Son in the flesh. For the Divine voice bears witness with deeds, and the fulfillment agrees with the word of promise, as the Prophet says: “As I have heard, so have I seen” (Psalm 47:9). The soul says: “the voice of my Brother” (that is, what we heard): “Behold He comes” (we perceived this with our eyes), “God spoke in many parts and in many ways of old with the Father as prophets” (here is the hearing of the voice), “in the last days He spoke to us in the Son” (Heb. 1, 1–2), This is what was said by the bride: “Behold, He comes, galloping on the mountains and leaping on the hills,” as akin to and in accordance with the chamois in a special way, and again, in a different concept, likening the “young tree.” Chamois signifies all kinds of visual acuity in the One who watches. For they say that this animal, extremely vigilant, has its name because of this power: but to be vigilant is the same as to be seeing. So, He who oversees everything, Who has everything in mind, He, because He sees everything, is called the God of all. Therefore, since God appeared in the flesh, appearing to the world to overthrow the opposing forces, He is likened to a chamois, as one who looked down from heaven to earth, and to a young deer, as one who leaps over mountains and hills, that is, trampling and crushing the crafty heights of demonic malice. For Scripture calls mountains that which is thrown into confusion by His strength, as David says, thrown into the “heart of the sea” (Psalm 45:3), and immersed in the abyss akin to this place. About these mountains, the Lord said to the disciples: “If you have faith like the grain of a mountain, cry out to this mountain” (pointing at this word to that evil demon tormenting him for new months): “Move and throw yourself into the sea” (Matthew 17:20). So, since it is in the nature of young deer to exterminate poisonous reptiles, and with the breath and quality of their flesh to put this kind of snake to flight, therefore the One who watches over everything is likened to “chamois” and “young fen”, as one who tramples and destroys the resistive force, which in a figurative sense is called mountains and hills. Therefore, the Bridegrooms had that voice with which “God spoke as a prophet,” and according to the voice the Word came, “jumping” over the opposing mountains “and leaping over the hills,” equally subduing under His feet all apostate power, both lower and higher. For the difference between hills and mountains makes it clear that he who rules over those who oppose him is overthrown like his subordinate, trampled under foot with force and authority. For the lion and the dragon, these higher ones, are equally subdued, and also the serpent and the scorpion, revered by the lower ones. I will say as an example: in the crowds that followed the Lord, there were mountains - demons, either in the synagogues, or in the country of the Gerasenes, or in many other places, towering and raising their head above human nature. Of these there were hills and mountains, both higher and lower. But the young tree, the destroyer of serpents, and transforming the disciples into the nature of the tree, when it says: “Behold, I give you the power to tread on the serpent and the scorpion” (Luke 10:19), puts its foot on everyone equally, putting them to flight, and from these jumping on others and thereby proving that the greatness of those high in virtue is not obscured by the heights of vice. For the Bethel mountains, as can be seen from the interpretation of the name, indicate a high and heavenly life; because the saying: Bethel, according to experts in the Hebrew language, means: “house of God,” which is why it is said: “on the mountains of Bethel.” They were seen by the pure and vigilant eye of the soul, galloping along with these Divine gallops along opposing heights; and what will happen in the future is discussed as if it were already the present, according to the certainty and certainty of the expected grace, looking at hope as a deed. For he says that “He who with graceful speed jumps up the mountains and jumps from hills to hills” shows Himself motionless, stopping behind the wall and talking “through the sea of ​​windows.” Literally it reads like this: “Behold, this One stands behind our wall, looking through the windows, discerning through the darkness” (Song. 2:9). Therefore, what is described in the word, if understood sensually, is this: The lover talks with the bride, who is inside the house, through the windows, while the wall between them separates both, but verbal communication occurs unhindered, the head looks out the window, and the eye penetrates inside through the window screens. The higher view adheres to the meaning found in the previous study. For the word gradually and consistently brings human nature closer to God, first illuminating it through the Prophets and the precepts of the law. So we understand that the Prophets are “windows” that introduce light, while the fabric of legal prescriptions is “middles,” and through both, a ray of true light penetrates inside. But after this, complete illumination with light occurs, when “sitting in darkness and shadow” appears the true “Light” (Matthew 4:16), after dissolution with our nature. Therefore, at first, the rays of prophetic and legal concepts, shining on the soul through the “windows” and “holes” we understand, arouse the desire to see the sun in the open sky. And thus, what is desired is then actually fulfilled. Let us listen to what the One who has not yet entered inside says to the Church, but stands and speaks to her as a conductor of light. For she says: “My Brother answers and says to me, Arise, come, My neighbor, My good one, My dove, for now the winter has passed, the rain has departed, the rain has departed, the flowers have appeared on the earth, the time of circumcision has come, the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land, the fig bears its blossom, the ripening grapes give off a stink.” (Song. 2, 10–13). How beautifully does the Creator of spring describe the pleasantness of spring, to whom David says: “Thou hast created harvest and spring” (Psalm 73:17)! Puts an end to winter gloom, saying that winter gloom and the unpleasantness of rain have passed. Points to meadows filled and decorated with flowers. He says about flowers that they are in full beauty and suitable for pruning, so that, without a doubt, flower collectors will pick them to weave wreaths or to prepare the world. Adding to the pleasantness of the time is the fact that the groves are filled with the singing of birds, and the pleasant voice of turtle doves is heard. He also mentions the fig and the grapes, the future pleasure from them, which has a visible beginning, namely in the fig the growth of germs, and in the vine the appearance of color; why does she delight the sense of smell with incense. So the word luxuriously describes the spring season, sweeping away everything gloomy and stopping at pleasant images. But there is no need, I think, to dwell on the description of these pleasures; but on the contrary, they should guide us to the mysteries signified by these descriptions, so that the wealth of thoughts hidden in the sayings will be revealed to us. Therefore, what does what we are talking about mean? The human race once became numb from the filth of idolatry, when the flexible human nature was transformed into the motionless nature of worship. For it is said: “Let those who create, I and all who trust in her, be like them” (Psalm 134:18). This is what should have happened. For just as those who raise their gaze to the true Divinity accept into themselves the traits characteristic of the Divine nature; So he who listens to the vanity of idols is transformed into the same thing that is before his eyes, becoming a stone from a person. So, since, petrified from serving idols, nature, numb from the filth of idolatry, was motionless for the better; then for this very reason, in this fierce winter, the sun of righteousness shines and brings forth spring; when the midday wind resolves such torpor, and, together with the shining of the sun’s rays, warms everything illuminated by them, so that a person petrified by frost, as soon as he becomes hot in spirit and is warmed by the ray of the Word, again becomes water flowing into eternal life. For it is said: “His spirit breathes, and the waters flow out” (Psalm 147:7), when a stone turns “into a lake of water” and an insect “into springs of water” (Psalm. 113, 8); about which the Baptist cried out to the Jews more openly, saying that these stones would be raised up and become children of the Patriarch, becoming like him in virtue (Matthew 3:9). So, this is what the Church hears from the Word, through the prophetic “windows” and through the legal “recesses,” receiving the ray of truth, when the transformative wall of teaching still stood, I mean the law, which gives “the shadow of the good things to come,” but does not indicate “the very image of things” (Heb. 10:1). Behind this wall stood the truth, closely connected with the prototype, which first, through the Prophets, illuminated the Church with the Word, and then, with the appearance of the Gospel, dispelled every shadow-like representation of the prototype, with which the mediastinum was destroyed, and the internal air in the house was united with the ethereal light, so that there is no longer any need for illumination through the windows, when the true light itself illuminates everything internal with the rays of the Gospel. Therefore, the Word, which introduces the “overthrown” (Psalm 144:15), calls on the Church as a conductor of light, saying: rise from the fall, you who have crawled into the shame of sin, who have suffered stumbling from the serpent, who have fallen to the ground, and who are in the fall of disobedience, arise. It is not even enough for you to be restored only from the fall, the word continues, but “and come,” progressing in goodness, completing the course of virtue. We found out this even in the paralytic. The Word does not only lift up this burden of the bed, but also commands him to walk; Moreover, it seems to me that by moving from place to place Scripture means moving towards the better and growing in it. Therefore, the Bridegroom says: “Arise and come.” What power is there in command! The voice of God is truly the voice of power, as the psalmody says: “He will give his voice, the voice of power” (Psalm 67:34); and: “That was spoken, and it was, That was commanded, and it was created” (Psalm 32:9). So now he said to the lying woman: “Rise up,” and again: “Come,” and the command was immediately fulfilled in practice. For the bride together receives the power of the Word, and rises to her feet, and stands and becomes a neighbor to the light, as is attested by the Word Himself, who gave this order; for this is what he says: “Arise, come, My neighbor, My good one, My dove” (Song. 2:10). What order in the word! How closely one is connected to the other! How coherently, as if in a chain, the sequence of concepts is preserved! The bride hears the command, strengthens her strength from this word and rises up, passes, approaches, becomes good, and is called a dove. For is it possible to see a beautiful image in a mirror in which there was no image of any beautiful face? Therefore, the mirror of human nature did not first become beautiful, but after it approached the beautiful, it reflected in itself the image of Divine beauty. How it had the appearance of a serpent in itself while it lay on the ground and looked at it; so, like this, because it has risen, it stands face to face with good, and has left vice behind; what he looks at, he takes on the image of it. He looks at the original beauty, and beauty is a dove. Having approached the light through this, it becomes light, and in the light the beautiful image of a dove is reflected, I mean that dove, the image of which announced the presence of the Holy Spirit. So the Word, having spoken to the bride and as a neighbor, calling her good, and calling her a dove for her kindness, continues the subsequent speech, saying that the despondency of mental winter no longer rules, because the scum does not resist the ray. “Behold,” says the Word, “the winter is gone, the rain is gone, the rain is gone” (Song 2:11). Evil has many names, giving it names based on the differences in its actions. Winter, rain, and drops are one and the same thing, but separately, each of these names signifies one particular temptation. In winter, what was green fades, the beauty of the trees, naturally adorned with leaves, falls from the branches and mixes with the earth, the sweet singing of vociferous birds falls silent, the nightingales give in to the flight, the swallow becomes mute, the turtle dove shuns the nest, everything becomes like the sadness of death, the offspring dies, the greenery dies, and like the bones from which the flesh has been removed, so do the branches, naked from the leaves, they become an unpleasant sight instead of the beauty that the green shoots brought to the branches. What will someone say about disasters at sea that happen in winter? How does it, rotating and rising from the depths, become like mounds and mountains, raising the watery peak straight up? How, like an enemy, rushes onto land, rushes from the shores, with continuous blows of waves, like the strikes of military weapons, shaking the earth? But imagine all these and similar winter hardships in an allegorical meaning. What does it mean to bloom and wither in winter? What is it that falls from the peaks and settles into the ground? What is the dying voice of songbirds? What is a roaring sea? What about the rain falling? What are raindrops? How does the rain go away? For with all this, the mysterious image of such a winter means something animated and arbitrary. Although our word will not explain this in order, the meaning contained in each saying may be clear to the listener. So, for example, human nature initially blossomed while it was in paradise, watered by the water of this source, and turned green when, instead of leaves, it was decorated with the stem of immortality. But since the winter of disobedience dried up the root; then the color fell and decomposed into the ground, man lost the beauty of immortality, as the love for God cooled from the multiplication of iniquities, the greenery of virtues withered; and because of this, opposing spirits have created in us many different passions, from which disastrous ruin befalls the soul. But then came the One who created the spring of our souls, who rebuked the evil spirit that once raised the sea, and said to the winds and the sea: “Be silent, stop” (Mark 4:3-9); and everything came into silence and serenity, everything began to bloom again, and our nature was decorated with its characteristic colors. The flowers of our life are virtues that bloom now, but bear their fruit in their time. That is why the Word says: “The winter has passed, the rain has ceased, the rain has ceased, the flowers have appeared on the earth, the time of circumcision has come” (Song. 2:11-12). Do you see, he says, a meadow blooming with virtues? Do you see chastity - this white and fragrant crin? Do you see the modesty - this rose? Do you see this violet - the fragrance of Christ? Why don't you weave them into crowns? Now is the time in which the one who has gathered must be adorned with the weaving of such crowns, “the time of circumcision.” The voice of the turtle dove testifies to you about this, that is, “the voice of one crying in the wilderness” (Mark 1:3); for this dove is John, this forerunner of a bright spring, showing people the beautiful flowers of virtue and offering them to those intending to become flower gatherers; because he pointed to the Color from the root of Jesse, to the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, and inspired repentance for bad deeds and virtuous living. For the Word continues: “The voice of the turtledove was heard in our land” (Song. 2:12), perhaps he refers to those condemned for a vicious life as earth, as the Gospel represents tax collectors and harlots. They heard John's word when others did not accept the sermon. And what is said about the fig, that “it wears out its flower” (Song. 2, 13), we will understand this way: the fig, from the action of heat on it, very strongly draws moisture from the depths, and as soon as a lot of dampness accumulates in its core, during the digestion of the juices that occurs in the plant, the nature of necessity spews out from the branches what was unusable and earthy in the juices; and does this repeatedly in order to give genuine and nutritious fruit from himself at the appropriate time, free from unwholesome quality. This, instead of the sweet and perfect fruit, which is also produced by the fig in the form of a fruit, is called a flower, which, although in time it can itself become palatable for those who wish, is nevertheless not a fruit, but serves only as the precursor of the fruit. Therefore, whoever sees this, of course, is already almost harvesting the fruits; because the “color” about which it is said that the fig tree “bears it” serves as a sign of figs suitable for food. Because the Word describes a spiritual spring for the bride; and this time is contiguous with two seasons, the time of winter gloom and the time of eating fruits in summer; then, although It clearly proclaims that the bad times have passed, it does not yet completely show the fruits of virtue, but preserves them for the proper time, when the harvest comes. And what is meant by the harvest, of course, you know from the Lord’s word, which says that “the harvest is the end of the age” (Matthew 13:39). Now the Word points to hopes that bloom with virtues, the fruit of which, as the Prophet says, will appear “in its own time” (Psalm 1:3). So, since human nature, like the fig tree mentioned here, during the winter we imagine, has collected a lot of bad moisture, then the One who creates a spiritual spring for us, and who grows humanity through proper cultivation, first, instead of shoots, beautifully throws out from nature everything that is earthy and unhelpful in it, cleansing confession from excesses, and then, by the rules of a more educated life, imposing on it certain features of the expected bliss, as if by some color, proclaims the future sweetness of figs. This is what is meant by what is said, “The fig bears its color.” So understand the ripening grapes, from which the wine, gladdening the heart, will once fill the cup of wisdom, and “with high preaching” (Proverbs 9:3) will be offered to fellow celebrants, with the right to draw from it good and sober rapture, I mean that rapture in which a person is delighted from the material to the Divine. Now the grapes are decorated with color, and they emit a certain fragrant, pleasant and sweet evaporation, dissolved with the enveloping Spirit; Without a doubt, taught by Paul, you know this Spirit, who makes this “sweet smell” in “those who are being saved” (2 Cor. 2:15). These signs of the beautiful spring of souls are indicated in advance by the Word to the bride and urges her to quickly enjoy what is offered, exciting her with his speeches and saying: “Arise, come, My neighbor, My good one, My dove” (Song. 2:13). How many dogmas the Word briefly shows us in these sayings! For it is not typical for inspired teaching to dwell on the same sayings out of any empty vanity. On the contrary, this repetition shows a certain great and divine thought, and it is precisely something similar to the following that is reflected. Blessed, eternal and exceeding every mind Nature, embracing all natures with Itself, is not embraced by any limit. For in His reasoning nothing appears, neither time, nor place, nor color, nor outline, nor type, nor volume, nor quantity, nor extension, nor anything else describing anything, a name, or a thing, or a concept; on the contrary, every good that is imagined about Him extends into infinity and infinity. Where there is no place for evil, there is no limit to good. In us, with the variability of nature, because in our will there is an equal opportunity to incline towards one and the other from the opposite, both good and evil alternately give way to each other, and emerging vice becomes the limit of good; and all the intentions of our souls, one opposite and opposing one another, give way to each other, and are determined by each other. But Nature is simple, pure, monotonous, immutable, unchangeable, always the same, never leaving Itself, because it does not allow Itself to be in communication with evil, remains limitless in goodness, not even seeing a limit before Itself, because it does not have anything contrary in mind. Therefore, when a human soul is attracted to communion with Himself, then predominantly in the best, in equal measure, it always places it higher than how much it participates; because the soul, through the participation of the most excellent, constantly becomes higher than itself, and, growing, does not stop growing; the good of which it participates, however, remains on a par with it, and the soul, which always partakes more and more equally, finds it incessantly in abundance. So, let us turn our gaze to the bride, along the ascents of virtue, as if along the steps of a ladder, guided by the Word to the heights. First, the Word introduces a light ray through the “windows” of the Prophets and “through the depths” of the commandments of the law, inviting her to approach the light and become beautiful in the light, taking on the appearance of a dove. Then, when she takes on as much beauty as she could contain, again the Word, as yet completely uninvolved in beauty, attracts her to partake of the highest beauty, so that, as she progresses, with new beauty constantly presenting itself, desire grows in her, and it seems to her that she, due to the abundance of blessings always revealed in height, is just beginning to ascend. Therefore, the Word repeats to the now risen bride: “Arise,” and to the walking one: “Come.” For even for the one who has truly risen, the need to continually rise will never cease, and for the one who hastens to the Lord, the path to the continuation of the Divine flow will never be exhausted. One must always rebel, and those who are even approaching their goal must never calm down. The number of times the Bridegroom repeats: “Arise” and “Come,” the same number of times it gives strength to ascend to greater perfection. So understand what is further proposed in the word. He who commands from the beautiful to become beautiful offers a direct apostolic word, ordering “in the same image” to be transformed “from glory to glory” (2 Cor. 3:18), so that glory for us, if something that is constantly acceptable and always acquired, even if it were something most great and sublime, is recognized by us as less than what was desired later. Therefore, that which, according to previous successes, was a dove, nevertheless, he is again commanded to become the same dove after being transformed into a better one. And if this next word is fulfilled, it will also show what is higher than this by the same name. For he says: come to yourself, “My dove, covered with stone; near the entrance" (Song. 2, 14). Therefore, what ascent to perfection is signified by what has just been said? To no longer have in mind efforts to attract, but to choose one’s own lust as a guide to the best. For it is said: “come to your senses”; not out of sorrow, not out of need, but through one’s own reasoning, without compulsory necessity, intensifying one’s zeal for the beautiful, because virtue does not know a ruler over itself, is arbitrary, free from all necessity. Such was David, who prays that God will favor him only in free deeds (Psalm 119:108), and promises to make a sacrifice “willingly” (Psalm 53:8). Such is each of the saints, devoting himself to God and being driven to this by no need. Therefore, you too show your complete readiness to accept within yourself the desire to ascend to the better. And having become such,” says the Word to the bride, “you will come to a stone cover, “near the entrance.” What was said by the Word (for this mysterious speech must be translated into a clearer one) has the following meaning: one covering for the human soul is the sublime Gospel; whoever is under this cover, after the truth has revealed the hidden fortune-telling of the commandments, no longer has the need for teaching hidden in allegorical and mysterious concepts. And that the gospel grace is called a “stone”, no one who has been in any way connected with the faith will dispute this. For from many places of Scripture one can learn that the “stone” is the Gospel. Therefore, the meaning of what has been said is this: if you, soul, have practiced the law, if through the prophetic “windows” you have seen with your understanding the rays of light, then do not remain longer under the shadow of the wall of the law, because the wall produces “the shadow of future blessings”, and “not the very image of things”: on the contrary, move close to the wall to the stone, because the stone is in connection with the “presentence”; since the law serves as the “representation” of the gospel faith, and in the mutual connection of the teachings, one is close to the other in strength. To the commandment: do not commit adultery, which is closer to the other commandment: do not covet, and to this: be clean from murder, also another: do not defile your heart with anger? So, since the “cover of stone” is in connection with “the presentation”, the transition from the wall to the stone is not far off for you. Circumcision on the wall, circumcision on the stone; a sheep here and there; there is blood, and there is blood; there is Easter, and here is Easter; and everything is almost the same, connected to each other by the same thing, except for one thing, that the stone is spiritual, and the wall is ringed, and together with the wall the corporeal and earthly are formed, and the gospel stone does not have in itself the carnal corruption of concepts. But man also accepts circumcision and remains completely healthy, not suffering any loss from the cutting in the composition of his nature. He also keeps the Sabbath by not doing evil and not allowing idleness in doing good, having learned that it is permissible to do good on the Sabbath. Eating food is considered indifferent and does not touch the unclean; for he was taught by the “Rock” that nothing that enters the mouth defiles (Matthew 15:11). On the contrary, rejecting the physical observations of the law in everything, the meaning of the sayings is transferred to a spiritual and rational meaning, in agreement with Paul, who said: “the law is spiritual” (Rom. 7:14). For whoever accepts the law in this way becomes under the cover of the Gospel “Stone”, closely connected with the bodily “presentence”. This is what the Word called to the bride “through the window”, and this dove, illuminated by a ray of thoughts, and having understood the “Stone”, which is “Christ”, responds beautifully to this (1 Cor. 10:4). For he says: “Show me Your visage, and make Your voice heard by me: for Your voice is sweet, and Your image is beautiful” (Song. 2:14). What she said has the following meaning: do not talk to me anymore with prophetic and legal fortune-telling, but to the extent that I can see, show yourself to me clearly, so that you can stand within the gospel “Stone”, leaving the “presentence” of the law. And as much as my hearing can accommodate, allow Your voice to enter my ears; for if this voice is so sweet even in the “window”, then how much more will it be sweet when You appear face to face. This is what the bride says, having understood the mystery of the Gospel “Stone”, to the extent that the former Word guided her to it in many parts and in various “windows”, and comes to desire the Epiphany in the flesh, so that the Word becomes flesh, God appears in the flesh, and the Divine voice becomes audible to our ears, promising the worthy eternal bliss. But how similar to this request of the bride are the words of Simeon, who says: “Now you are releasing Your servant, O Master, according to Your word, in peace: as mine eyes have seen Your salvation” (Luke 2:29-30)! For he saw how the bride wished to see. The sweet voice of the Bridegrooms is recognized by those who have received the grace of the Gospel, who have spoken: “the verbs of the life of the eternal imashi” (John 6:68). Therefore, the pure Bridegroom accepts the bride’s request as fair, and intending to show Himself to her clearly, first forces the hunters to catch the foxes so that the grapes will no longer have an obstacle to ripening, saying: “Have us foxes,” which, although small, destroy the grapes: the grapes will bloom if nothing else harms them. “Have us the little foxes that destroy the grapes: and our grapes will ripen” (Song 2:15). Is it possible to follow the height of these thoughts according to their dignity? What a miracle of Divine greatness this word contains! What an excess of God's power is expressed by the meaning of what was said! The one about whom so much is said, this “murderer” (John 8:44), “strong in malice” (Psalm 51:1), whose tongue is sharp, “like a razor” (Psalm 51:2), “with desert coals” (Psalm 119:4), “who catches like a lion in his fence” (Psalm 9, 30), this “great serpent” (Ezek. 29:3), “apostate” (Job 26:13), “hell” that enlarges its mouth (Hab. 2:5), “ruler of the world” of dark power (Eph. 6:12), having the “power of death” (Heb. 2, 14), and as the prophecy says on his behalf, the one who will put away the “borders of the tongues” that he “set”; as is obvious, the Most High “according to the number of His angels” (Deut. 32:8), who embraces “the world like a nest”, and takes “like an abandoned egg” (Psalm 10:13), who says that above the clouds he will set his “throne” and will be “like the Most High” (Isa. 14:14), and about whom the Word reports so many terrible and terrible things in the book of Job, that “his ribs are copper, his backbone is fused with iron” (Job 40:13), and his insides “as if he humbles stone” (Job 41:6), and everything like that, in which only Scripture depicts this terrible nature - this so powerful leader of so many demonic hordes, what name does he receive from the true and only Power? And he is called “little fox”, and with him everyone around him, the entire army subject to him, with equal humiliation, he is called foxes by the One who sends them to catch them as hunters, which can be the angelic forces that solemnly precede the Master at His appearance on earth, introducing the King of glory into the world and indicating to those who do not know, “who is this King of glory”, strong and strong “in battle” (Psalm. 23, 8); and another may also say that these are “ministries of souls, sent to serve for those who want to inherit salvation” (Heb. 1:14); and still others have the right to assert that these fishers are the Apostles sent to catch these beasts, to whom the Lord said: “I will make you fishers of man” (Matthew 7:4). For in catching people, the words that catch the souls of those being saved would not have been able to fall through the cracks, if these animals, these little foxes, had not first been expelled from their holes, that is, from the hearts in which they nested, and thus cleared a place for the Son of God where to lay His head, when the fox race will no longer nest in the hearts. At least, no matter who the Word assumes to be fishers, from the command given to them we recognize the great and ineffable power of God. The Word did not say: catch the “boar from the oak forest” that devoured the grapes of God, or the “solitary wonder” (Psalm 79:14), or the roaring lion, or the great whale, or the underwater serpent. For with such orders the Word would show the fishers some strength of the opposing forces. On the contrary, as it says, all earthly dominions with which people struggle, the principalities, powers, and rulers of darkness, and the spirits of evil are “little foxes,” insidious and poor in comparison with our strength. If you overcome them, then you will receive your grace. Our grapes are human nature, and the fruiting of the grapes begins with the flowers of a virtuous life. So, “give us little foxes that destroy grapes, and our grapes will ripen.” The vine heard God’s command, the wife of whom David says: “Your wife is like a fruitful vine” (Psalm 127:3). And she saw that by the power of the Commander she was freed from the destruction of these beasts, and immediately surrendered herself to the Worker, who destroyed the mediastinum of the fence; because there is no longer any obstacle to union with what is desired within the wall of the law. But he says: “I am to my Brother, and my Brother to me, who shepherds in the kryn, the day will breathe until the end, and the canopy will move” (Song. 2, 16-17), that is, the bride says: face to face I saw the Ever-Essential One, for what He is, but for my sake from my sister, the synagogue, who shone in human form, and in Him I calm down, I become His abode. For He is the Good Shepherd, who does not give hay to the flock for food, but feeds the sheep with clean grains, no longer feeding hay with hay; because hay is food characteristic of a wordless nature, and man, as a verbal being, feeds on the true word; and if he is satisfied with hay, he himself will become hay. It is said: “all flesh is hay” (Is. 40:6) while it is flesh. But if someone becomes a spirit, having been born of the Spirit, then he will no longer feed on grass, but his food will be the Spirit, which is meant by the purity and fragrance of the krin. Therefore, the one who eats himself will be a clean and fragrant krin, changing according to the properties of the food. This is the day that overflows, or breathes, with rays, as the Divine Word called it, the outpouring of rays produced by the Spirit, calling it breath, from which the shadows of this life begin to move, into which those who have not yet illuminated the spiritual eye with the light of truth peer carefully, but look at the shadow and vanity as if they were something substantial, but lose sight of what actually exists as if it does not exist. On the contrary, those who eat krin, that is, those who fatten the soul with pure and fragrant food, having removed from themselves every deceptive and illusory idea of ​​what they desire in this life, will see the true basis of the essence of things, becoming sons of light and sons of the day. The bride sees this and encourages the Word to quickly fulfill the hope of sharing in the blessings, saying: “become, O Brother, like a roe, or a young tree on the mountains of the valleys” (Song 2:17). Like a chamois, look, You, who see the thoughts of men, read the thoughts of hearts. Destroy the offspring of evil, like a young tree, exterminating the breed of snakes. Do you see the valleys of the mountains of human life, the uprisings of which are not like peaks, but wilds? That is why the Word hurries with all speed to the valleys of the mountains, because everything that rises up against the truth is an abyss, and not a mountain, a vale, and not a hill. Why, if you step on them, says the bride, then every “wild” will be filled, and every “mountain will be humbled” (Is. 40:4). Thus says the soul that the Word feeds, not among any thorns, or past, but in the fragrance of the grains of pure life, with which may we also be satisfied, shepherded by the word of Christ Jesus our Lord! To Him be due glory and power forever and ever! Amen. You might be interested in: