Cânticos 4
Gregory of Nyssa · Comentário Patrístico (catena)
Cânticos 4:2
Now is the time to examine the beauty attributed to the teeth of shorn sheep.… If we look at the literal meaning of this verse, I do not see how teeth can be compared with prolific sheep.… What then can we gather from these words? Persons reducing the divine mysteries into small fragments for a clearer interpretation of the text make spiritual food more easily acceptable for the body of the church. They perform the function of teeth by receiving the thick, dense bread of the text into their mouths. By a more subtle contemplation, they make the food delectable. — HOMILIES ON THE SONG OF SONGS 7
Cânticos 4:12
Because a seal protects the inviolability of whatever it guards, it scares off thieves; everything not stolen remains unharmed for the master. Praise of the bride in the Song would then testify to her excellence in virtue because her mind remains safe from enemies and is guarded for her Lord in purity and tranquility. Purity seals this fountain while the radiance and transparency of the bride's heart is unclouded by no mire of evil thoughts. — HOMILIES ON THE SONG OF SONGS 9
Cânticos 4:13
In order that we may know the plants that the Word cultivates in believers, the Song calls the trees he planted "pomegranates." These issue from the bride's mouth. The pomegranate is difficult for a thief to grasp because of its thorny branches, and its fruit is surrounded and protected by a rind bitter and harsh to the taste. Once the pomegranate ripens in its own good time, and once the rind is peeled off and the inside revealed, it is sweet and appealing to the sight much like honey to the taste; its juice tastes like wine and affords much pleasure to the palate. I think that the issues from the bride's mouth [are] a "garden of pomegranates" present in the souls of those listening to her. We must heed her words and not become soft by indulgence and enjoyment of this present life. Rather we should choose a life that has become toughened by continence. Thus virtue's fruit is inaccessible to thieves and is protected by the bitter covering of self-control. Surrounded by a solemn, austere way of life, it wards off as though by spiny thorns those who approach the fruit with evil intent. — HOMILIES ON THE SONG OF SONGS 9
Cânticos 4:14
When the Word raises his bride to such a point through her ascents, he leads her even further, saying that her garments have the scent of frankincense. Scripture testifies that Christ is clothed with this frankincense. The end of a virtuous life is participation in God, for frankincense manifests the divinity. The soul is not always led by the Word to what is higher by means of honey and milk, but after having been compared with the scent of frankincense, the garden becomes an image of paradise. It is not loosely guarded as with our first parents, but protected from every side by recollection of the bridegroom's command. — HOMILIES ON THE SONG OF SONGS 9