Sermon XLV. On the Twofold Beauty of the Soul and the Language Employed between Herself and her Beloved

"Behold thou art fair, O My love, behold thou art fair, thy eyes are as those of doves. Behold thou art fair, my Beloved, and comely."

"Behold thou art fair, O My love, behold thou art fair, thy eyes are as those of doves." How beautiful, my brethren, how admirable! Love is the cause of the Bride's presumption, and the cause of the Bridegroom's severity is also love. This is manifest from the event. For presumption has been followed by correction, correction by^ amendment, and now amendment obtains its reward. Dignity is put off, reverence is forgotten, the Master is gone, the Monarch has retired, only the Lover is present. Thus, wherever love reigns supreme, there is no room for pomp and ceremony. And just as of old Moses spoke to the Lord "as a man is wont to speak to his friend," and the Lord replied to him, so here the Word Divine and the holy soul, like two intimates, converse familiarly together. Nor should this surprise us. For the same power of love binds them together in mutual affection and leads them to delight in each other's company. Sweeter than honey, therefore, are the words that pass between them; the very glances they interchange are full of tenderest feeling and speak the language of holy love. The Bridegroom calls the Bride His love. He pronounces lO her fair and that with reiteration, whilst she, in her turn, addresses Him in the very same terms. Such repetition is not without meaning. It points to the intensity of their mutual love. Perhaps it also points to some mystical truth which we shall do well to investigate.

Now, it appears to me that the repetition of the epithet ** fair "in my present text implies the existence of a twofold loveliness in the soul. Let us therefore inquire what this double beauty may be. Humility is beyond question one principle of spiritual beauty. I am not saying this of myself. The inspired Psalmist has said the same before me." Thou shalt sprinkle me with hyssop,"so he sang," and I shall be cleansed."Hyssop, which is a lowly herb valued for its medicinal properties, symbolises humility. It was by this virtue, then, that the Royal Prophet hoped to be purified after his terrible fall, and to recover the snowy whiteness of his former innocence. Even in a sinner, humility has doubtless wherewith to attract our love, but it can hardly excite our wonder: it is amiable without being admirable. But if he who has preserved his innocence should likewise show himself humble, wiU you not allow that such a one is adorned with two kinds of spiritual beauty?¹ The Blessed Virgin Mary never soiled her first sanctity, yet was never otherwise than humble; and therefore" the King hath desired her beauty,"which resulted from this union of humility with innocence. So she sings in her canticle," He hath regarded the humility of His handmaid."Therefore," Blessed is he that keepeth his garments clean,"that is, the robes of innocence and simplicity, if yet he be careful to set them off with the ornament of humility. Certainly, the soul that is such shall hear herself addressed in the words," Behold thou art fair, my beloved, behold thou art fair."Lord Jesus, how I wish that Thou couldst say to this soul of mine, even once and without reiteration," Behold thou art fair! "How I wish that Thou wouldst help me to maintain myself in humility! My first robe of innocence I have soiled by sinning. Therefore, I can only say," I am Thy servant."For I dare not presume to call myself Thy friend, unworthy as I am to hear Thee bearing repeated testimony to my beauty, and saying," Behold thou art fair, O my love, behold thou art fair."Well content should I feel wert Thou even once to call me fair. But what if this also should be beyond my desert?" I know what I will do."Being but a slave myself, I will reverence her who is Thy beloved. A miserable² wretch, full of deformity, I will occupy myself with admiring her multiplied beauties. I will exult and be glad at the sound of the Bridegroom's voice, marvelling at its ravishing sweetness. Who knows but I may so find favour in the eyes of the Spouse, and be numbered for her sake amongst the friends of her Beloved? For "the friend of the Bridegroom, who standeth and heareth Him, rejoiceth with joy because of the Bridegroom's voice." Behold, His voice is now sounding in the ears of His Spouse. Let us listen and be glad. The Bridegroom and the Bride are present to each other. They converse together. Let us stand by. Let no worldly cares, no allurements of the flesh be allowed to distract our attention from this sacred colloquy.

"Behold thou art fair, O my love," says He, "behold thou art fair." The first word here, "behold," is expressive of admiration, the others of praise. And surely she is well worthy of admiration, in whom not the loss but the preservation of sanctity furnished the motive of humility. Rightly, too, is she pronounced to be fair, as being adorned with the double beauty of humility and innocence. Such a combination is rarely found on earth, for either innocence is lost, or, where it is preserved, humility is excluded. Consequently she is truly blessed in whom both are found coexistent. She is proved to be innocent in that she is conscious to herself of nothing, and humble because she has willingly endured correction. What a contrast, my brethren, between this Spouse and ourselves! We can hardly bear to be reproved, even when we are guilty of grave offences; whereas she, although blameless, submits with humble patience to the bitterness of reproach. For surely there was nothing wrong in the desire she expressed to see her Bridegroom's glory. Rather it was deserving of praise. Nevertheless, on being reprimanded she does penance, and exclaims, "A bundle of myrrh is my Beloved to me, He shall abide between my breasts." As if she should say, "It is enough for me. I wish to know nothing henceforth but * Jesus and Him crucified.'" O admirable humility! She who never contracted the stain of sin assumes the disposition of a penitent! She who has done nothing needing to be atoned for, yet does not dispense herself from making atonement! You may ask, why she is rebuked if she has done no evil. My answer shall commend the providence and the prudence of the Bridegroom, so be attentive. Just as of old the Lord tried the obedience of Abraham, so now He puts to the test the humility of His Spouse. And as the Patriarch, after proving his obedience, heard addressed to him the words, "Now I know that thou fearest God," so the Bride receives here a similar testimony to her humility, though expressed in different words. For the encomium, "Behold thou art fair," is intended to signify something like this, "Now I know that thou art humble." And the compliment is repeated in order to indicate that the beauty of humility has been added to the glory of innocence. Thus the Bridegroom seems to say, "Now I knowj that thou art beautiful, not only by reason of My grace and love, but also through the merit of thine own humility. I do not now pronounce thee to be fair among women, or beautiful in thy cheeks or neck only, as I did before. But I proclaim thee beautiful, simply and absolutely, not relatively beautiful, not beautiful with qualification or distinction."

The Bridegroom goes on to say, "Thy eyes are as those of doves" This plainly is another commendation of the Bride's humility. For it is intended to reward the docility she showed when, having been corrected for her presumption in inquiring into things too sublime, she immediately descended to the lowliness that became her, and said, "A bundle of myrrh is my Beloved to me." There is surely a vast difference between the vision of glory which she asked for before and the bundle of myrrh which now contents her. Hence it is a sign of no ordinary humility to be willing to receive the latter grace instead of the former. It is by such acquiescence that she has earned the eulogy, "Thy eyes are as those of doves." "Now," we may fancy the Bridegroom saying to her, "now thou art not * walking in great matters nor in wonderful things above ' thee. Like the dove, thou art satisfied with what is lowly; and just as that most simple of birds builds her nest in the fissures of the rock, so dost thou abide in My Wounds, contemplating Me with thy dove-like eyes, at least in the mysteries of My Incarnation and Passion."

But perhaps it is her spirituality rather than her simplicity that the Bridegroom wishes to commend by comparing her eyes to those of a dove, because we read in St. Matthew how the Holy Spirit once revealed Himself under the image of that bird. If anyone prefers to adopt this view, it will be necessary to connect our present text with the words of the Bridegroom's companions, spoken a little before, wherein they promised to make for the Spouse "chains of gold inlaid with silver." There is here no question of ornaments for the body, as I have already explained, but only of instruction for the ears of the mind. It is therefore possible that, her heart being more perfectly purified by the faith which comes from hearing, she has now the power to see what before was beyond her capacity. And since the gift of the golden chains appears thus to have improved her faculty of spiritual perception, she has been advanced in the Bridegroom's favour. For, so far as He is concerned. He always takes special pleasure in the soul which has learned to contemplate Him in the spirit. Hence He is but adding to her other merits this progress in spiritual discernment when He declares to His Spouse, "Thy eyes are as those of doves." "Regard Me no longer," He seems to say, *' according to the flesh, but according to the spirit, because * a Spirit before thy face is Christ the Lord.' And thou hast now the capacity for such contemplation, inasmuch as * thy eyes are as those of doves.' Before thou wert wanting in this higher faculty, and therefore it was that thou didst meet with repulse. But now since ' thy eyes are as those of doves,' that is to say, spiritual, thou art permitted to enjoy the spiritual vision of Me, not indeed in the fulness which thou hast solicited, but in a degree proportionate to thy present capacity. It is necessary that thou shouldst be led on gradually * from glory to glory.' Therefore, exert to the utmost the faculty thou now possessest; when thou hast attained to greater power, a higher vision shall be granted thee."

I do not suppose, my brethren — I am very far from supposing — that this spiritual vision of Christ is either common to all or of but little importance, although it is inferior to that which is reserved for the life to come. Its dignity can be estimated from the words which follow. The Spouse is now speaking, and she says in reply, "Behold Thou art fair, my Beloved, and comely." You perceive, my brethren, how wonderfully she has been exalted, and to what lofty heights she has lifted her gaze, since she thus, as by incommunicable right, claims as her Beloved the Lord of the universe. You will take notice how she does not speak of Him simply as the Beloved, but calls Him "my Beloved," as if wishing to assert her special prerogative. Assuredly that must be a noble vision which has raised the Spouse to such a degree of confidence and dignity that in the Lord of all she no longer recognises a Lord but a Lover. There is here, as I think, no need or use for material, sense-transmitted images of Christ's Flesh or cross, or any other representations which belong to the weakness of His mortality. For there "is no beauty nor comeliness in Him," comparatively, when so considered. When, therefore, the Spouse, after contemplating her Beloved in this vision, declares Him to be both beautiful and comely, she gives us to understand that He has manifested Himself to her in some more excellent and spiritual way. For to His Spouse, as of old to Moses, He speaks face to face; and to her, as to the Law- -^ giver, it is given to see God openly and not in signs and symbols. And just as He has revealed Himself to her contemplation, in a vision as sweet as it was sublime, so do her words describe Him. Her "eyes have seen the King in His beauty," yet not as a King but as a Lover. Isaias "saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and elevated." Another prophet also testifies that He even beheld Him face to face. Yet it seems to me that the Spouse has been more highly favoured

II. B than either, because to them He showed Himself as the Lord, whereas He appeared to her as a Bridegroom. "I saw the Lord," writes Isaias, "sitting upon a throne, high and elevated, and His train filled the temple." And Jacob exclaims, "I have seen God face to face, and my soul hath been saved." But in the Prophet Malachy we read, "If I be a Master, where is My fear? saith the Lord of Hosts." Hence the revelations vouchsafed the prophets always inspired them with terror, for where the Lord is there must be the fear of Him. For my part, then, were the choice given me, I would gladly and lovingly choose that vision of Him wherein He appears as a Bridegroom; because as charity is nobler than fear, so is this manifestation more excellent than the others. "Fear hath pain," as you have read in St. John, "but perfect charity casteth out fear." Surely, then, there is a very great difference between that vision where the Lord appears "terrible in His counsels over the sons of men," and that where He shows Himself "beautiful above the sons of men." "Behold," cries the Spouse on beholding Him in His character of Bridegroom, "behold Thou art fair, my Beloved, and comely." There is nothing here indicative of terror, but every word is redolent of charity.

But perhaps "thoughts are arising in your hearts," and you are asking yourselves in perplexity, "How is this? In what sense are we to understand that the Word Divine addresses words to the soul, and that she replies with words of her own so that she can hear His voice proclaiming her beautiful, and returns His salute immediately with the self-same eulogy? * How can this be done? ' We indeed employ words to speak, but not so He Who is Himself the Word of the Father. Neither can the soul make use of words unless she employs the corporeal mouth to fashion and utter them." Such, my brethren, are the doubts which you may find suggested to your thoughts and not unreasonably. But remember that it is the Holy Spirit Who speaks, and that the words which He utters must be spiritually interpreted. Whenever, therefore, you either hear or read of the Word and the soul conversing together or holding communication by means of amorous looks, be on your guard against conceiving anything like an interchange of external words or glances, just as you would not suppose the two corporally present to each other. Listen, whilst I try to explain what thoughts such language should suggest to your minds. The Word is a Spirit and the soul is a spirit, and they both have their own spiritual tongues wherewith they converse together and manifest their presence to each other. The tongue of the Word is the grace of His condescension, whilst that of the soul is the fervour of her devotion. Hence, the soul which is indevout, as being tongueless and speechless, has no means of entering into conversation with the Word. Now, it is impossible for the soul not to hear, when the Word, wishing to speak to her, sets this spiritual tongue of His in motion; "for the Word of God is living and effectual, and more piercing than any two-edged sword; and reaching unto the division of the soul and the spirit." Much less, on the other hand, can the Word fail to catch what is spoken by the soul, both because He is everywhere present, and also for the reason that the tongue of her devotion can never move at all, except under the impulse of His inspiring grace.

When, therefore, we are told that the Word speaks to the soul, saying to her, "Thou art fair," and calling her His love, we must take the meaning to be that He gives her the grace to love and the confidence to presume that she is loved in return. And when she, on her side, is represented as addressing Him as her Beloved and pronouncing Him comely, the sense is that without fraud or deceit she ascribes her love of Him and His love of her to His unmerited bounty, admiring His goodness and marvelling at His beauty. This beauty of the Bridegroom is nothing else than His love of the Bride, a love which is all the greater for that it is prevenient. Realising, therefore, that He was her Lover before He was her Beloved, she cries out from the inmost recesses of her soul, with all the tenderest affections of her heart, that her love for Him must be the more ardent and strong because of its having been anticipated. Thus, the speech of the Word is the infusion of His grace; the reply of the soul, admiration and thanksgiving. She loves Him the more, the more she sees herself outdone in loving. And she marvels the more, the more she sees herself prevented by His grace. Therefore, not content with having once pronounced Him "fair" she also proclaims Him "comely," intending by the addition to signify the perfection of His beauty.

Or perhaps by calling Him "fair and comely "she designs to teach us that the two Natures of Christ are endowed with a loveliness worthy of all admiration. His Divinity being beautiful by essence, His Humanity by grace. How beautiful Thou art to Thy angels, Lord Jesus, "in the Form of God" "in the day of Thy eternity," *' begotten before the daystar in the splendours of the Saints," Thyself the "Splendour" and the "Figure "of the Father's Substance, the everlasting and unspotted "Brightness of Eternal Life "! Yet how beautiful dost Thou appear to us in the very laying aside of Thy immortal glory! For when Thou, Who art the Light Unfailing, didst strip Thyself of Thy natural rays, when Thou didst empty Thyself, "taking the form of a servant," then Thy loving-kindness became more clearly manifest, then Thy charity shone forth more brightly, then Thy grace was more lavishly poured out.

How brilliant a Star dost Thou arise for me "out of Jacob "! How bright a Flower comest Thou forth "from the root of Jesse "! How gladdening a Light hast Thou shone upon me out of darkness, the "Orient from on high "! How glorious, how stupendously grand dost Thou appear, even to the contemplation of the powers supernal, in Thy conception by the Holy Ghost, in Thy birth of the Virgin Mary, in the innocence of Thy life, in the purity and abundance of Thy doctrine, in the splendour of Thy miracles, in Thy revelation of heavenly secrets! How resplendent after Thy setting didst Thou rise from the heart of the earth, as the Divine Sun of Justice! How beautiful in the / robe of Thy glorified Flesh didst Thou, the King of Glory, return to Thy throne on high!³ And as I ponder on these sacred mysteries, surely "all my bones shall say, Lord, who is like to Thee?"

You may suppose, then, my brethren, that the Spouse had been admiring those and similar glories in her Bridegroom when she exclaimed, "Behold Thou art fair, my Beloved, and comely." Nor was her contemplation confined to the grandeurs of His

Humanity. There can be no doubt that something of the beauty of the higher Nature, which escapes our vision and transcends our experience, was also revealed to her gaze. Hence by the repetition, "fair and comely," she desires to commend the loveliness of the two Natures. And hear how she exults at the sight and the salutation of her Beloved, and sings to Him a nuptial song, inspired with the sentiments of most ardent affection. "Our bed is flourishing," she cries, ** the beams of our house are of cedar, our rafters of cypress trees." But this love-song shall supply matter for the next discourse, so that, when rest ha^ restored our mental vigour, we may be better disposed to "rejoice and be glad in it," unto the praise and glory of the same Bridegroom, Jesus Christ Our Lord, Who is over all things, God blessed for ever. Amen.II

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Footnotes

1. It is this twofold spiritual beauty of humility with innocence that Our Lord is commending to His followers where He says,"When you have done all these things that are commanded you, say: We are unprofitable servants, we have done that which we ought."The reason why the innocent find it hard to be humble, as the Saint implies (p. 13), can only be ignorance of the proper motive of humility, which is not consciousness of sin — that being only subsidiary — but the condition of utter and absolute dependence, essential to every created nature. Now, such dependence is not lessened by preservation from sin, for this is only a very special merey- of God; and, according to ↩

2. St. Augustine, there is no crime committed by any man which I every other would not be capable of except for grace." ↩

3. Similarly St. Augustine in his preface to Psalm xliv.: "To us who now believe how beautiful the Bridegroom everywhere reveals Himself! As the Word Divine He is beautiful in God. He is beautiful in the Virgin's womb where He assumed our humanity without laying aside His Divinity. He is beautiful as an Infant born for us.... Therefore He is beautiful in heaven. He is beautiful on earth. He is beautiful in His mother's womb, He is beautiful in the arms of His parents, beautiful in His miracles, beautiful under the lash, He is beautiful when inviting us to eternal life, beautiful in His indifference to death. He is beautiful in laying down His life and beautiful in taking it up again, He is beautiful on the cross, beautiful in the sepulchre, beautiful in His glory, beautiful in our minds." — (Translator.) ↩

4. The Fathers appear to be unanimous in understanding the repetition "Behold thou art fair, O my love, behold thou art fair," of two distinct kinds of spiritual beauty. But they differ in explaining what these are. According to St. Gregory the Great the two beauties are the love of God and the love of our neighbour; St. Anselm makes them to be holiness of soul and holiness of body, referring to the words of St. Paul, "holy in body and in spirit" (i Cor. vii. 34); Hugh of St. J Victor interprets them to mean Our Lady's virginity and - humility; whilst Rupert understands them of her virginity and maternity. — (Translator.) ↩