Sermon XXI. In what Manner the Spouse, that is the Church, Desires to be Drawn to her Beloved

"Draw me; we will run after Thee to the odour of Thy ointments."

"Draw me; we will run after Thee to the odour of Thy ointments. "What? Has the Spouse need to be drawn? — need to be drawn after her Beloved? As if, forsooth, she followed Him reluctantly, and not rather most eagerly! But not everyone that is drawn, is drawn unwillingly. The weak and the ailing, unable of themselves to go to the bath or the banquet, are not displeased at being drawn thither; although, on the other hand, it is doubtless against their will that malefactors are drawn to judgment and punishment. Further, it is evident the Spouse desires to be drawn, since she prays for this. But she would not make such a petition, if, of herself, she were able to follow her Beloved as she wished. But why has she not this power? Are we to say that even the Spouse is infirm? Had one of the "young maidens "confessed herself weak and begged to be drawn, we should not have felt any surprise. But who does not find it hard to believe that the Spouse herself, as if sick and feeble, has really need of being drawn, whereas she seemed to be strong and perfect enough to be able to draw others? What certainty can we have now of the health and strength of any soul, if we admit infirmity even in her, who, by reason of her singular perfection and more excellent virtue, is honoured with the name of Spouse of Christ? But, perhaps, the Church spoke thus when she beheld her Beloved ascending into heaven, expressing in those words her ardent desire to follow and to be assumed with Him to glory? And yet every soul, without exception, to whatever perfection she may have attained, so long as she groans in the "body of this death," and is kept confined in the prison of this wicked world, burthened with infirmities, tortured with the memory of her sins — every soul, I say, has to submit to the necessity of mounting to the contemplation of things divine by ascents too slow and gradual for the eagerness of her desires. For she does not as yet enjoy the liberty of following the Bridegroom "whithersoever He goeth." Hence that tearful cry of lamentation, "Unhappy man that I am, who will deliver me from the body of this death? "Hence, too, that suppliant prayer, "Bring my soul out of prison." Therefore, let the Spouse also say with tears, "Draw me after Thee," because "the corruptible body is a load upon the soul, and the earthly habitation presseth down the mind that museth upon many things." Or, it may be, these are the words in which the Church gives expression to her desire "to be dissolved and to be with Christ." Especially, as she observes, that they, for whose sake it seemed necessary that she should still abide in the flesh, are now progressing favourably in the love of the Bridegroom, and are firmly rooted and grounded in charity. It was to call attention to this, that she premised the words, "Therefore, young maidens have loved Thee." In this sense, then, she seems to say, "Behold the young maidens have loved Thee, and in love are securely united to Thee, and hence, have no longer any need of me. And as there is now no reason for prolonging my sojourn on earth, draw me after Thee."

This latter I should take to be her meaning, had her prayer been, "Draw me to Thee." But because she says "after Thee," I am more inclined to think her request is that she may be given the strength to follow the footprints of His, the Bridegroom's, example, and the grace which would enable her to be emulous of His virtues, to direct herself by the rule of His life, and to conform her own to His divine character and disposition. For in this she is especially in want of assistance, in order that she may be able to deny herself, and to take up her cross and so follow Christ. Herein the Spouse has certainly need to be drawn, and to be drawn by none else than by Him Who said, "Without Me you can do nothing." "I know," she seems to avow, "I know that I can by no means attain to Thee, except by walking in Thy footsteps. But even this I am unable to do without Thy help. Therefore, I beg that Thou wouldst draw me after Thee. For ' blessed is the man whose help is from Thee; in his heart he hath disposed to ascend by steps in the vale of tears,' and is destined, sooner or later, to come to Thee on the mountains of unending bliss." How few are they, O Lord Jesus, who desire to follow Thee! And yet there is none without the wish to attain to Thy presence, since everyone knows that "at Thy Right Hand are delights, even unto the end." Hence it is that all yearn to enjoy Thee, though not all are willing to imitate Thy example. All long for a share in Thy kingdom,¹ but all are not desirous to participate in Thy cross. Such, for instance, was Balaam, who prayed, "Let my soul die the death of the just, and my last end be like to them." He wished to resemble the just in their end, but not in their beginnings. So, too, carnal men, who abhor the spiritual life, still would like to die like spiritual persons, knowing how "precious in the sight of the Lord is the death ot His saints." For "when He shall give sleep to His beloved, behold the inheritance of the Lord! "And again, "Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord." On the other hand, according to the Psalmist, "The death of the wicked is very evil." They are at no pains to seek Him Whom they would be glad enough to find. They would wish to overtake without the labour of pursuing. Not so those to whom the Lord said, "And you are they who have continued with Me in My temptations." O sweetest Jesus, happy are they who are accounted worthy of such testimony from Thy divine Lips! They in truth followed after Thee, both with their feet and with their affections. Thou didst make known to them the ways of life, calling them after Thee Who art the Way and the Life. And Thou didst say, "Come ye after Me, and I will make you to be fishers of men." Also, "If any man minister to Me, let him follow Me, and where I am, there also shall My minister be." Therefore they could say, as it were, glorying, "Behold, we have left all things, and have followed Thee."

In the same way, then, Thy beloved Spouse, having left all things for Thee, desires to be ever led by Thee,to be ever walking in Thy footsteps, and to follow Thee whithersoever Thou goest. For she knows well that "Thy ways are beautiful ways, and all Thy paths peaceful," and that whoso follows Thee "walketh not in darkness." But she asks to be drawn, because "Thy justice is like the mountains of God," for climbing which her own strength is not sufficient. She prays to be drawn, as being aware that "no one cometh "to Thee unless Thy "Father shall draw him." But whomsoever Thy Father draweth, these Thou Thyself dost also draw; "For the works which the Father doth, these the Son also doth in like manner." And she more boldly begs to be drawn by the Son, as by her own Bridegroom, sent by the Father to meet her on the road, as a Guide and Director, Who should walk before her in the way of moral discipline, should smooth for her the path of virtue, "instruct her as Himself," and give her "a law of life and instruction," and all to the end that "the King might desire her beauty."

"Draw me after Thee; we will run to the odour of Thy ointments." Therefore do I require to be drawn, because the fire of Thy love has grown cold within us, and "before the face of cold "like this we cannot run now, as we did yesterday and the day before. But we shall run again hereafter, when Thou shalt restore to us "the joy of Thy salvation"; when the happy season of grace shall return, when the Sun of Justice shall again grow warm and drive away the clouds of temptation which, for the time being, seem to overcast and to hide from us His Face; when at every gentlest stirring of the more balmy summer air the ointments shall begin to liquify, and the aromatic spices to flow and to give out their fragrant odour. Then shall we run, we shall run to that odour. We shall run, I say, to the perfume of the ointments, because our present torpor shall have vanished, giving place to devotion, so that we shall no longer require to be drawn; for under the attraction of the odour, we shall run forward of ourselves. But meantime "draw me after Thee; we will run to the odour of Thy ointments.,, Do you not see, my brethren, that he who walks in the Spirit cannot possibly remain always in the same state, nor always advance with the same facility, and that the way of man is not in his own power, but according as the Spirit, Who remains Master of His graces, is pleased to dispense them with varying degrees of generosity, the soul, at one time more sluggishly, at another with greater alacrity, "forgetting the things that aie behind stretcheth (herself) forth to those that are before"? I believe that what you now hear me speaking of exteriorly, you may learn interiorly from the testimony of your conscience.

Therefore, when you perceive yourselves to be affected with languor, sloth, or disgust, do not on that account lose confidence or desist from your application to spiritual things. Rather seek for the supporting hand of the Spirit (after the example of the Spouse) begging Him to draw you, until, aroused by grace from the state of torpor, and rendered more alert and active, you will commence to run again, and to say, "I have run in the way of Thy commandments, when Thou didst enlarge my heart." Yet, when grace is present, enjoy it in such a way as not to lancy you possess it by hereditary right.² I mean to say, do not be so secure of it as if it could never be taken from you. Otherwise, when God withdraws His hand and deprives you of His gift, you will suddenly lose heart and become unduly depressed and discouraged. Do not say in thy "abundance, I shall never be moved," lest you be compelled with tears to say also what follows, "Thou didst turn away Thy Face and I became troubled." Rather be careful, according to the advice of the Wise Man, "In the day of good things to be not unmindful of evils, and in the day of evils, to be not unmindful of good things."

Be not, consequently, too secure in the day of thy strength, but, with the Prophet, cry out to God, "When my strength shall fail me, do not forsake me." And similarly take comfort in the time of temptation, saying with the Spouse, "Draw me after Thee; we will run to the odour of Thy ointments." Thus you shall not lose hope in the evil day, nor foresight in the good. Amidst the prosperities and adversities of this changeful existence, you will exhibit in yourselves an image, so to speak, of the changeless eternity, by this unalterable and imperturbable equanimity of a constant soul, "blessing the Lord at all times," and despite the uncertain events and the certain failures of this mutable life, gradually bringing yourselves to a condition of what I may call fixed and stable immutability; whilst you are, at the same time, beginning to renew and restore in your-selves that primordial and glorious likeness to the Eternal God, "in Whom there is no change, nor shadow of vicissitude." For as He is in His eternity so will you be even in this world, invincibly equable, neither cast down in adversity nor elated in prosperity. Herein, I ray, the noble rational creature, made to the image and likeness of his Creator, shows that he is retrieving and recovering the dignity of his ancient honour, in that he judges it unworthy of him to be conformed to the fashions of this fleeting world, and rather strives, according to the injunction of St. Paul, to be reformed in the newness of his mind, unto that image, in which, as he knows, he was created. And thus, as is proper, he will force the world, which was made for his sake, by a marvellous reversal of relations, to accommodate itself to him. For having put off the form of corruption and reassumed that which is proper and natural to him, "all things shall now begin to co-operate unto good for him" in whom they shall recognise, as it were, their lord for whose service and enjoyment they were created.

Hence, I believe that what the Only-Begotten said of Himself, viz., that if He were "lifted up from the earth," He would "draw all things"to Himself, can be applied equally well to all His brethren, to those, namely, whom the Father "foreknew and predestined to be made conformable to the image of His Son that He might be the First- Begotten amongst many brethren." Therefore, even I shall make bold to say, that "I, if I be lifted from the earth, will draw all things to myself." Do not suppose, my brethren, that I act rashly in appropriating to myself the words of One Whose likeness I have put on. And since this is so, let not the rich of this world imagine that the brethren of Christ possess only the goods of heaven, because they hear the Master saying, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." Let it not be thought, I repeat, that heavenly treasures alone are held by these poor, because only such are mentioned in the promise. Earthly things, too, are possessed by them, who, "as having nothing, possess all things." They do not beg for such, as the involuntarily poor, but they own them as lords, and the more truly lords of them the less they desire them. In fact, the whole world, is the treasure of the faithful soul. The whole world I say, because both its goods and its evils are equally her servants and co-operate for her unto good.

The avaricious man, like the beggar, hungers for the riches of earth; but the spiritual man, as their lord, despises them. The former has to beg for them whilst possessing them; the latter by despising them, preserves them. Ask one of those who, "with insatiable heart," yearn after temporal lucre, what he thinks of such as sell what they have, and give to the poor, bartering earthly possessions for the kingdom of heaven. Ask him whether or not they do wisely. "Wisely, indeed," he will doubtless answer. But ask why he does not himself do that which he approves: "I cannot," will be his answer. Why? Because his mistress, avarice, will not suffer him. Because he is not free. Because those things which he appears to possess are not really his own. Because he is not even his own master. Thensay to him: If it be thine own, put thy money out at interest, and transform earthly into heavenly treasures. If thou canst not do this, then acknowledge that thou art less the master than the slave of thy riches, less the owner than the custodian. Thou art even conformed to thy purse as a slave to his mistress; because, just as the slave must rejoice or grieve with his rejoicing or grieving mistress, so dost thou in thy soul swell with elation or shrink under depression, in harmony with the varying bulk of thy money-bags. For thou dost contract with grief according as these contract with expenditure; and art rilled with joy or, at any rate, inflated with pride, in proportion as they are replenished with profits. Such is the life of him who makes himself a slave to avarice. But let us, for our part, endeavour rather to emulate the freedom and constancy of the Spouse, who, instructed in all things, "and learned in heart in wisdom," knows how to abound and how to suffer want. When she asks to be drawn, she shows that what is wanting to her is not money but virtue. Again, in consoling herself with the hope of a return of grace, she proves that, though fainting, she has not lost confidence.

She says, therefore, "Draw me after Thee; we will run to the odour of Thy ointments." And what wonder that she requires to be drawn, whilst she runs after a Giant, whilst she is trying to overtake Him Who "leaps in the mountains, Who leaps over the hills "? "His Word," says the Psalmist, "runneth swiftly." She is not able to keep up with Him; she cannot keep pace with One Who "exult eth as a giant to run His course." That is to say, she cannot do this of her own strength, and hence she request? to be drawn. "I am tired, she seems to say, "I am fainting from fatigue. Do not abandon me, but draw me after Thee, lest I begin to ' wander after other lovers ' and ' run as at an uncertainty.' Draw me after Thee, since it is better for me that Thou shouldst draw me, even forcibly, either by terrifying me with threats or chastising me with scourges, than, by sparing me, permit me to enjoy a dangerous security in my sloth. Draw me, even against my will, that I may be made willing. Draw me, even in my sluggishness, that I may learn how to run of myself. The time will come when I shall no longer need to be drawn, for we shall run willingly and with all alacrity. I shall not run alone, although alone I ask Thee to draw me. With me shall run the young maidens. We shall run side by side. We shall run together; I to the odour of Thy ointments, they as being stimulated by my example and encouraged by my exhortation. And so we shall all run to the odour of Thy ointments." The Spouse has imitators of herself, just as she is an imitator of Christ. Hence she does not say, "I shall run," but "we shall run."

But the question here arises, when she prays to be drawn, why does she not likewise include the "young maidens" in her petition, and say, "draw us," instead of "draw me"? Or are we to suppose that, whereas the Spouse has need to be drawn, the "young maidens" labour under no such necessity? O Bride of Christ, beautiful, blessed, and blissful, explain to us the meaning of this distinction. "Draw me," thou implorest. But why "me" rather than "us"? Is it that thou dost envy us, the "young maidens," so great a grace? God forbid! For hadst thou desired to follow thy Beloved alone, thou wouldst not have immediately added that the "young maidens" would run with thee. Why, then, dost thou ask to be drawn in the singular, and straightway, speaking in the plural, say "we will run"? "Charity," she answers, "so requires. Learn from me by these words that in your spiritual exercises you must hope for a twofold heavenly grace, viz., correction and consolation.³ The former is exteriorly administered, the latter visits you interiorly. The one restrains your boldness, the other props up your hope. Correction engenders humility, consolation supports pusillanimity. By the first you are made cautious, by the second devout. The one teaches you the fear of the Lord, the other tempers that fear by an infusion of spiritual delight, as it is written, ' Let my heart rejoice that it may fear Thy name.' Also ' Serve ye the Lord with fear, and rejoice unto Him with trembling.'"

We are drawn, my brethren, when we are exercised by temptations and tribulations. We run, when visited by interior consolations and inspirations, thus inhaling, as it were, the delicious odour of the Bridegroom's ointments. "Therefore," says the Spouse, "whatever seems hard and austere, I keep for myself, as being strong, and whole, and perfect; and so I say in the singular, ' draw me.' But all that is pleasant and sweet, I share with you who are weak, and hence I add ' we shall run.' Well do I know how tender and delicate these * young maidens ' are, and how unfitted to endure the force of temptations. And therefore it is that I want them to run with me, but not to be drawn with me. I wish to have them as partakers of my consolation, but not of my labour. Wherefore? Because they are weak, and I fear lest they should faint, lest they should succumb. Let me, O my Beloved! "she exclaims, "let me be corrected, let me be tried, let me be tempted — 1 draw me after Thee,' ' for I am ready for scourges,' and able to bear them. But we shall run together. Let only me be drawn, but we shall run together. We shall run, yes, we shall run, but ' to the odour of Thy ointments,' not through confidence in our own merits. It is not in the magnitude of our strength that we hope to run, but in the ' multitude of Thy tender mercies.' For whenever, even in the past, we have run or possessed a good will, it was ' not oi him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God That sheweth mercy.' Only let the same mercy again visit us and we shall run again. Thou as a Giant, and as a Mighty One, runnest in Thy strength. But we shall not run at all unless drawn by the perfume of Thy ointments. Thou dost run in the virtue of that ' oil of gladness ' with which the Father ' hath anointed Thee above Thy fellows.' We can only run to the odour of that ointment, for Thou hast the fulness and we but the odour." Now would be the time, my brethren, to discharge the obligation which I remember to have undertaken long since with regard to the ointments of the Bridegroom, but to-day's sermon has already transgressed its limits. Therefore I will postpone to another time the promised exposition, for it would be doing an injury to the dignity and importance of the subject to attempt to compress it within a space of inadequate extent. Pray ye, therefore, the Lord of the ointments that He would deign "to make pleasing the voluntary offerings of my mouth," in order that I may be able to engrave deeply upon your minds the memory of that abounding sweetness of His, which is treasured up in the Bridegroom of the Church, Christ Jesus Our Lord. Amen.

Footnotes

1. "Jesus has now many lovers of His heavenly kingdom, but few are willing to bear His cross; Pie has many that are desirous 1, o of comfort, few of tribulation. All desire to rejoice with Him, few to suffer with Him" (Imitation oj Christ, Bk. II. ch. ad.). — (Translator.) ↩

2. "Therefore, when God gives spiritual consolation, receive it with thanksgiving; but know that it is the bounty of God, not thy merit... When comfort shall be taken away from thee, do not presently despair.... One said at the time when grace was with him, ' In my abundance I said I shall never be moved '; but when grace was retired, he tells us what he experienced in himself,' Thou hast turned away Thy face from me and I became troubled ' " (Imitation, Bk. II. ch. ix.; cf. alsoBk. III. ch. vii.). — (Translator.) ↩

3. "I am accustomed to visit My elect two manner of ways, viz., by trials and by comforts; and I read them daily two lessons, one to rebuke their vices, and the other to exhort them to the increase of virtues"(Imitation, Bk. III. ch. iii.). — (Translator.) ↩