Cânticos 5
Gregory of Nyssa · Comentário Patrístico (catena)
Cânticos 5:2
Once all the senses have been put to sleep and are gripped by inaction, the heart's action is pure; reason looks above while it remains undisturbed and free from the senses' movement.…If a person pays attention to the senses and is drawn by pleasure in the body, he will live his life without tasting the divine joy, since the good can be overshadowed by what is inferior. For those who desire God, a good not shadowed over by anything awaits them; they realize that what enters the senses must be avoided. Therefore, when the soul enjoys only the contemplation of being, it will not arise for those things that effect sensual pleasure. It puts to rest all bodily movement, and by naked, pure insight, the soul will see God in a divine watchfulness. May we be made worthy through this sleep, of which the Song has spoken, to keep our soul vigilant. — HOMILIES ON THE SONG OF SONGS 10
Cânticos 5:5
Resurrection is not effected in us unless a voluntary death precedes it. Such a voluntary death is indicated by the drops of myrrh dripping from the bride's hands, for her fingers are filled with this spice. She says that myrrh did not come into her hands from any other source—if this were so, myrrh would mean something accidental and involuntary. Rather her hands (the operative faculties of the soul) drop myrrh, meaning a voluntary mortification of her bodily passions. — HOMILIES ON THE SONG OF SONGS 12
Cânticos 5:6
The bride says, "I sought him, but found him not." How can the bridegroom be found when he does not reveal anything of himself? He has no color, form, quality, quantity, place, appearance, evidence, comparison or resemblance. Rather, everything we can discover always transcends our comprehension and completely escapes our search. Therefore the bride says, "I have sought him by my soul's capacities of reflection and understanding. He completely transcended them, and he escaped my mind when it drew near to him."How can that which is always beyond everything we know be designated by a name? For this reason the bride understands every function of a name as a sign of the ineffable good. The significance of each word falls short and shows something inferior to the truth.… The soul thus calls the Word as best it can. It cannot do so as it wishes, for the soul desires more than it is capable of. The soul does not wish what it is incapable of receiving, such as God himself, but its choice is in accord with its wish. Since the one called is unattainable, the bride says, "I called him, but he did not answer." — HOMILIES ON THE SONG OF SONGS 12
Cânticos 5:10
All these elements constituting the bridegroom's beauty are made known for our benefit but do not show his invisible, incomprehensible beauty.…Therefore, whoever looks at the visible world and understands the wisdom that has been made manifest by the beauty of creatures can make an analogy from the visible to invisible beauty, the fountain of beauty whose emanation established all living beings in existence. Similarly, whoever views the world of this new creation in the church sees in it him who is all in all. This person is then led by faith through what is finite and comprehensible to knowledge of the infinite. — HOMILIES ON THE SONG OF SONGS 13
Cânticos 5:10
All flesh implies birth, with marriage as the means for bringing it about. The person, however, who is not subject to a birth of flesh with respect to the mystery of religion does not submit to the actions effected by human nature or to the passions arising from the mind. He understands that the generation of the flesh belongs to all humankind. The bride says that he who partakes of flesh and blood is "white and ruddy." However, by indicating the body's nature by these two colors, she does not say that Christ partakes of that birth common to humankind. Rather, God assumed our human nature from the multitude of people he had begotten. From the passage of succeeding generations, Christ alone entered this life by a new form of birth. Nature did not cooperate in this birth but served it. Therefore, the bride says that her spouse is "white and ruddy." That is, he dwells in this present life through flesh and blood while having been begotten from virginal purity. His conception is virginal. His birth is undefiled and without pangs. His bridal chamber is the power of the Most High overshadowing the virgin like a cloud. He is a nuptial torch of the Holy Spirit's splendor. His bed is free from passion, and his marriage is incorruptibility.The bridegroom born under such circumstances as these is rightly called "chosen from myriads." He was free from birth resulting from marriage, for his existence does not come from marriage. No terminology pertaining to human birth can rightly pertain to Christ's incorruptible, painless birth because virginity and childbirth cannot apply to the bridegroom at the same time. As the Son is given to us without a father, the child is thus begotten without birth. — HOMILIES ON THE SONG OF SONGS 13
Cânticos 5:12
The eyes "upon the fullness of waters" are compared with doves because of their simplicity and innocence, and the Word says they have been washed in milk. A quality of milk is that it does not reflect any image. Every other liquid is like a mirror whose smooth surface serves to reflect the image of those gazing in it. However, milk lacks such reflective capacity. This is, then, the best praise for the church's eyes. They do not reflect deceptive, shadowy pictures of nonexistent things that are erroneous, vain or contrary to the true nature of reality. They look, rather, at being itself, and do not reflect the false visions and fantasies of life. Thus the perfect soul bathes its eyes in milk to keep them pure. — HOMILIES ON THE SONG OF SONGS 13
Cânticos 5:15
A pillar must rest on the foundation of truth. Truth is golden, and its bases are the bridegroom's legs adorning his hands and head. The foundation may be interpreted as marble. We understand by the Song's words that the body's legs are marble pillars, that is, those persons who support and bear the body of the church by exemplary lives and sound words. Through them the base of our faith is firm, the course of virtue is completed, and the entire body is raised on high by our longing for God's promise. Truth and stability guide the church's body. Gold represents truth, which, according to Paul, is called the foundation of the divine edifice. … Christ is the truth upon whom are founded the legs, or pillars of the church. — HOMILIES ON THE SONG OF SONGS 14