From Glory to Glory: Texts from Gregory of Nyssa’s Mystical Writings Selected and introduced by Jean Danielou 978-0913836545

Table of contents :
TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE
INrRoDUcrroN 07 Jean Dani\lou, S. J.
NOTES TO TIIE INTRODUCTION
FROM GLORY TO GLORY: TEXTS FROM
GRXGORY OF NYSSA'S MYSTICAT WRITINGS
I. TIIE MEANING OF PERFECTION
2. PERFECTION AND PROGRESS
3. TrrE CYCLB OF DESTRE
4. THE SYMBOL OF THE BRICK MOULD
5. THE LONGING FOR HEAVEN
6. rns ExoDUs FRoM EGYPT
7. CROSSING THE DESERT
8. nnpao moM HEAVEN
g. AT THE FOOT OF MOnNT SINAr
IO. PURIFICATION OF HEART
rT. RECOLLECTION
12. THETRUEBEAUTY
13. THE GRACE OF THE SPIRIT
, 14. RESTORING GOD S IMAGE
IJ. ENTERING THE DARK CLOUD
16. THE syMBoL oF ABRAHAM'S MIGnATIoN
17. THE ABYSS OF KNOWLEDGE
r8- rns HEAVENLY TABERNACLE
19. OUR EARTHLY TABERNACLE
20. THE SYMBOLISM OF THE PRIESTLY VESTMENTS
2I. THE DOCTRINE OF ETERNAL PROGRESS
22. TH'E SYMBOL OF THE ROCK AND THE SAND
23. FOLLOWTNG THE LORD
24. SPTRTTUAL LOVE
25. MYSTTCAL MARRTAGE
26. rcrc sPIRrruAL sENsEs
27. TIIE GOOD SHEPHERD
28. rNow THYSELF
29. TrfE ODOR OF SPTKENARD
30. THE BUNDLE OF MYRRH
3r. THE BrRTH OF THE WORD
32. TIJE MTRROR OF THE SOUL
33. THE EYES OF THE DOVE
34. THE LrLY OF THE VALLEY
35. THE FRUIT OF THE APPLE TREE
36. ruE MYSTTc wrNEPREss
37. TH.E ORDER OF CHARTTY
38. rnu wouND oF LovE
39. THE DTVTNE OATH
40. TIIE SPRINGTIME OF THE SPIRIT
4r. "ARISE AND coMEtt
42. "T:rtE WINTER Is Now PAsr"
43. FROM DOVE TO DOVE
44. TIJ-E CLEFT OF THE ROCK
45. THE LTTTLE FOXES
46. "EoncnrrrNc THE THINGS rHAT ARE BEHIND
47. rovE's euEsr
48. ruE ITLLAR oF sMoKE IN THE DESERT
49. THE GUARDIANS OF THE HEART
50. THE DOCTRINE OF INFINITE GROWTH
5r. "coME rRoM LTBANUS"
sz. T:rrE LIoNs' DEN
53. THE MIRROR OF THE CHURCH
54. THE SINGLE EYE
55. AN ODOR OF SWEETNESS
56. urE HoNEYcoMB
57. rIdE GARMENT OF VIRTUE
58. rHu cARDEN ENcLoSED
J9. THE FOUNTAIN SEALED UP
6o. rns PARADISE oF THE soul
6r. rns PoMEGRANATE
62. rp'n SYMBoL oF SAFFRoN
63. rnE SYMBoL oF cINNAMoN
64. rnr wELL oF LIvING wATER
65. rnr FooD oF THE BRIDEGRooM

SOBER INTOXICATION
WATCHFW SLEEP
ANGELIC VIGILANCE
BUBBLING SPRING
THE NOCTURNAL DE.w
THE GARMENT OF THE FLESH
THE SYMBOL OF PURE FEET
THE MYRRH OF PENANCE
THE DOOR OF THE SPIRIT
THE SUCCESSIVE PURIFICATIONS
THE BODY OF CHRIST
THE NEU/ CREATION
THE SYMBOL OF CLOSED EYES
THE MYSTICAL NIGHT OF THE SOUL
THE GOOD SAMARITAN
a( ,, MY BELOVED TO ME
THE WINGS OF THE DOVE
aa ,,
ONE IS MY DOVE

Citation preview

~Qom TEXTS FROM qQ€qOQy O~ nyssa's MYSTICAL WRITINGS

INTRODUCTION BY

Jean ()anl€tou

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FROM GLORY TO GLORY Texts from Gregory of Nyssa's Mystical Writings Selected and with an Introduction by JEAN DANIELOU

This collection of the spiritual writings of St Gregory of Nyssa, selected and introduced by Jean Danielou, has long been recognized as an authoritative introduction to the "father of mysticism," who exploded classical antiquity's static understanding of perfection by showing the Christian life as one of never-ending growth, a true dynamic movement "from glory to glory." "Modern thought has come more and more to appreciate the depth and insight of Gregory of Nyssa: he epitomizes, in a sense, all that is best in post-Nicean patristic thought ... ln Gregory's teaching of the sacred history-of the story of God's dealings with men-history and symbol fuse in a way that reveals all the uniqueness of the Christian message. " from the Translator's Preface 'This book is a sheer delight... From Glory to Glory has long been treasured reading for a wide spedrum of Christians. " The Living Church

"[From Glory to Glory] gives the reader a rewarding journey into the mystical writings of St Gregory of Nyssa ... This would be a worthwhile book for any library which has a selection of important theological thought. Ligourian H

ST VLADIMIR'S SEMINARY PRESS

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TEXTS FROM

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MYSTICAL WRITINGS

Selected and

BY JEAN

with an Introduction

DANlt'lou, s.J-

Translated and Edited

BY HERBERT MUSURILLOT S-J.

ST VLADIMIR'S SEMINARY PRESS CRESTWOOD, NY 107 0',7 -1699 1995

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Gregorius, Saint, Bp. of Nyssa, fl.379-394 From Glory to glory.

f'2.orn gloa.y

Reprint ofthe 1961 ed. published by Scribner, New York.

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Mysticism-Early church., ca. 30-600. I. Title.

1BR65.G74E53. t9791 ISBN 0-9 I 3836-54-0

248',.22

79-38

Copyright @ 1961 Charles Scribner's Sons

First published I 96 I by Charles Scribner's Sons First printing of St Vladimir's Seminary Press reprint edition 1979 Second printing 1995

rsBN 0-913836-54-0

PRINTED IN THEUNITED STATES OFAMERICA

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gLoay

TRANSTATOR'S PREFACE Modern thought has come more and more to appreciate the depth and insight of Gregory of Nyssa: he epitomizes, in a sense, all that is best in post-Nicaean patristic thought, and he reveals in a profound and vital way that undifferentiated contact with the early tradition of Christian fterygma which has often been lost sight of in subsequenr times. In Gregory's teaching of the sacred history-of the story of God's dealings with men-history and symbol fuse in a way that reveals all the uniqueness of the Christian message. And if we sometimes find Gregory's exegesis difficult, we are nonetheless struck by the very modern sound of his voice. As a translator my task has been to render Gregory's very difficult prose style into a modern idiom, although at times I have deliberately retained some of his baroque and quite individual mannerisms. In some cases I have translated disputed texts in ways which might incline the reader to one interpretation even where others were possible; but in most cases the brief notes will indicate some of the complexities and difficulties involved. Two very serious difficulties constantly hover over the theological aspects of our selections: the problem of the co-

operation between man's free activity and God's salutary providence, and the exact extent of the two Ways, the way of asceticism and the way of mysticism, which lead to the Darkness in which the Godhead is seen. This was not the place to enter into controversy; but a clear presentation of Gregory's thought will, one hopes, be an important stage on

TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE the road to a solution. Jean Dani6lou's vast labors on the theology of Gregory have established him as a sure guideindeed, as a pillar of fire by night-towards the goal of our deeper comprehension of this important area of early Christian thought.

Hrnsrnr Musunn lo, S. |.

CONTENTS

l:(

TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE

INrRoDUcrroN 07 Jean Dani\lou, S. J. NOTES TO TIIE INTRODUCTION

3

72

FROM GLORY TO GLORY: TEXTS FROM GRXGORY OF NYSSA'S MYSTICAT WRITINGS

I. TIIE MEANING OF PERFECTION 2. PERFECTION AND PROGRESS 3. TrrE

CYCLB OF

4. THE SYMBOL OF THE BRICK 5. THE LONGING FOR HEAVEN 6. rns ExoDUs FRoM EGYPT

IO.

PURIFICATION OF HEART

rT.

RECOLLECTION

83

MOULD

87 88

9o 93 95

SINAr

96 98

ro2

12. THETRUEBEAUTY 13. THE

8r 84

DESTRE

7. CROSSING THE DESERT 8. nnpao moM HEAVEN g. AT THE FOOT OF MOnNT

79

r04

GRACE OF THE SPIRIT

r07

,

14.

RESTORING GOD S IMAGE

IT2

IJ.

ENTERING THE DARK CLOUD

rr8

CONTENTS

CONTENTS

xlt

xlll

16. THE syMBoL oF ABRAHAM'S MIGnATIoN

II9

4r.

17. THE ABYSS OF KNOWLEDGE

t22

42. "T:rtE WINTER Is

r8- rns

t29

43.

FROM DOVE TO DOVE

r89

19. OUR EARTHLY TABERNACLE

135

44.

TIJ-E CLEFT OF THE ROCK

I9I

20. THE

r37

45.

THE LTTTLE FOXES

r93

2I. THE DOCTRINE OF ETERNAL PROGRESS 22. TH'E SYMBOL OF THE ROCK AND THE SAND

r42 r48

46. "EoncnrrrNc THE 47. rovE's euEsr

23.

FOLLOWTNG THE LORD

r50

48. ruE ITLLAR oF sMoKE IN THE

24.

SPTRTTUAL LOVE

ryz

49. THE

25.

MYSTTCAL MARRTAGE

r53

r56

50. THE DOCTRINE OF INFINITE GROWTH 5r. "coME rRoM LTBANUS"

r58

sz.

r59

53. THE MIRROR OF THE

t63

54. THE

SINGLE EYE

219

t66

55. AN ODOR OF SWEETNESS 56. urE HoNEYcoMB

222

57. rIdE GARMENT OF VIRTUE 58. rHu cARDEN ENcLoSED

zz6

229

174

J9. THE FOUNTAIN SEALED UP 6o. rns PARADISE oF THE soul

176

6r. rns

23r

177

62. rp'n SYMBoL oF

38. rnu wouND oF LovE

178

63. rnE

39. THE DTVTNE OATH 40. TIIE SPRINGTIME OF THE

r8o

64. rnr wELL oF LIvING wATER

235

r83

65. rnr FooD oF THE BRIDEGRooM

237

HEAVENLY TABERNACLE

SYMBOLISM OF THE PRIESTLY VESTMENTS

26. rcrc sPIRrruAL

27. TIIE GOOD 28. rNow

SHEPHERD

THYSELF

29. TrfE ODOR OF 30. THE BUNDLE

3r.

sENsEs

SPTKENARD

OF MYRRH

THE BrRTH OF THE WORD

32. TIJE MTRROR OF THE 33. THE

167

170

SOUL

EYES OF THE DOVE

17r

34. THE LrLY OF THE VALLEY 35. THE FRUIT OF THE APPLE

173 TREE

36. ruE MYSTTc wrNEPREss 37.

TH.E ORDER OF CHARTTY

SPIRIT

r86

"ARISE AND coMEtt

T:rrE

Now PAsr"

THINGS

r87

rHAT ARE

BEHIND

r96 r97

DESERT

GUARDIANS OF THE HEART

203

zo6

2tl 213

215

LIoNs' DEN CHURCH

PoMEGRANATE SAFFRoN

SYMBoL oF cINNAMoN

2r7

224

227

230

233

234

CONTENTS

xiv

66.

48

SOBER INTOXICATION

67. WATCHFW

240

SLEEP

68. ANGELIC VIGILANCE

243

69. BUBBLING SPRING

245

70. THE NOCTURNAL DE.w

246

7r.

250

THE GARMENT OF THE FLESH

72. THE SYMBOL OF PURE

252

FEET

73. THE MYRRH OF PENANCE

254

74. THE DOOR OF THE SPIRIT

z6o

75. THE

263

SUCCESSIVE PURIFICATIONS

76. THE BODY OF CHRIST

27r

77. THE NEU/ CREATION

273

78. THE SYMBOL OF CLOSED EYES

274

79. THE MYSTICAL NIGHT OF THE

SOUL

8o. THE GOOD SAMARITAN

8r.

a(

MY BELOVED TO ME

,,

82. THE WINGS OF THE DOVE 83.

aa

ONE IS MY DOVE

,,

NorEs oN rHE rExrs by HerbertMusurillo, S.J.

278 279

z8r 284 286 289

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fnfrzoDacf,iort BY JEAN

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I.

GREGORY: THE MAN AND THE ERA

The life of Gregory of Nyssa was one of successive, sharply marked stages. He was born in Cappadocia, around the year 33o, into a family that was exceptionally Christian; we can see something of its quality in Gregory's biography of his sister St. Macrina. To judge from a letter of Gregory of Nazianzusl (who was a friend of his brother, Basil the Great), it would seem that he was at first destined for the priesthood. But his youthful years coincided with that last revival of pagan culture which was to reach its peak under Julian the Apostate. Gregory tells ust that he was completely won over to the pagan humanistic ideal, especially as he found it in the works of Libanius. He married and became a teacher of rhetoric. After journeying through Palestine and Egypt to visit the settlements of monks and hermits, Basil had settled down in 358 to live at the family estate in Annesis, Pontus, with the idea of leading a monastic life. He was joined there by Gregory of Nazianzus. As for Gregory of Nyssa, Basil tried to draw him to Annesis, as we know from one of his letters,s but there is no proof that he ever succeeded. Gregory was married and it would mean leaving his wife. Years afterwards, in extolling the ideal of celibacy, he was to confess that he never attained it himself.n There is thus no evidence that he ever lived a monastic life. ln 37o Basil was named bishop of Caesarea in Cappadocia. The emperor Valens was, at the time, persecuting those who held to the doctrines of the Council of Nicaea. And Basil, desirous of having men about him he could trust, forthwith had his friend, Gregory of Nazianzus, elected to the sea of Sasima, quite against the poor man's wishes in the matter. 3

4

INTRODUCTION

FROM GLORY TO GLORY

Again, in 372 he had his brother appointed bishop of Nyssa. It was with small enthusiasm that Gregory set out for the metropolis. The people he disliked intensely;5 and as for the place itself-so he writes to the rhetorician Stagiriusit was simply a wilderness. Gregory tried to persuade some of his friends to join him here; indeed, if we may judge from his correspondence during these years, he seems to have been living a rather worldly life. It is likely that his wife was still with him; the customs of the times would have allowed it. In any case, he failed to provide the support his brother had expected, and Basil was very annoyed.n Then in the year 374 a series of dramatic events rudely cut short this peaceful existence. Valens tried to get rid of the bishops who were faithful to Nicaea. Gregory himself was accused of squandering funds. The validity of his episcopal election was called into question, and he was banished from his see. Where he went at this time we do not know. It was surely not to the estate at Annesis-for he tells us in the Life of St. Macrina that he was not there betwe en 372 and by 38o. Some of his letters suggest that he was harbored friends. But it was during this period of trial that he seems finally to have been won over to Basil's ideas of religious reform. He began to help Basil in the work of establishing monasticism in Cappadocia, and it was to this end that he composed his first work, T he Treatise on Virginity. At the end of 377, Gregory was restored once more to his see at Nyssa and entered the city to the joyous acclaim of the people.T Almost immediately an event occurred which was to change the entire course of his life : Basil died on lan. r, 379, and Gregory thus fell heir to the whole extent of Basil's far-ranging activity, theological, monastic, and

5

And he seems, at the moment, to have become fully aware of his responsibilities. It may well have been thai Basil's dominant personality had, up till then, prevented Gregory from expressing himself. For despite Basil's affection for his brother, he had no true notion of Gregory's worth. Their characters were essentially too opposed for that. But now, with Basil's death, Gregory was forced to stand on his own, and thus in the years that followed he was able to reveal himself as he really was. Gregory's task, however, was not merely to carry on the work of Basil; he had also to bring it to completion. Basil was a man of action; he was above all else an organizer. He touched on many problems without going into any of them too deeply. It was this deepening, first of all in the area of theology, that Gregory explicitly set as his goal in the work he wrote rn 379, On the Creation of the W orld . In the introduction he says that it was his intention to complete the sermons which Basil delivered on the same subject two years before. But whereas Basil had set forth the facts, Gregory would now try to show their afroluthia,the internal sequence of cause and effect.8 From this time on, his activity was limitless' In the autumn of g7g he took part in the Synod of Antioch, which Meletius had convoked with the hope of ending the schism between East and West. On his way back from Antioch he stopped ofl at Annesis, and was Present at the death of his sister Macrina.e When he arrived back at Nyssa he was to find his ecclesiastical.

diocese invaded by men from Galatia busily spreading heresy,

apparently Eunomianism;to and on the first Sunday after fan. r, 38o, the sermon he preached referred to this crisis.11 Later he was called to lbora, an episcopal see not far from

6

FROM GLORY TO GLORY Annesis, on the occasion of the election of a new

bishop.t' And it was here that he was approached by a delegation from Sebaste in connection with their own local conflict over an

episcopal election.'3 Gregory thus found himself in the middle of a veritable religious war between Arians, Nicaeans, and Sabellians.tn By Easter of 38o he was back in Nyssa; and it is here, I think, that we should place the three short sermons which he delivered for Easter,ts Ascensionrtu and Pentecost.l? Now we begin to detect the influence of Gregory of Nazianzus, who was at the height of his powers at this time. And the references to the divinity of the Holy Spirit become more understandable when we recall that Gregory had just returned from Sebaste; this city had been the center of the heresy of Eustathius, a former bishop of Sebaste. At this time, too, Gregory wrote a letter to his brother Peter, in whose election as bishop of Sebaste he had been instrumental: in it he implies that he had just completed his first book against Eunomius within the space of seventeen days.l8 This was to be the beginning of Gregory's great reply to Eunomius'vicious attack on his brother Basil. The spring of 38r marks the pinnacle of Gregory's career. For it was then that emperor Theodosius convoked the Council of Constantinople. The Council, in which Gregory played such an important role, was to result in a complete victory for the ideas for which Basil and Gregory had fought both on the theological and the ecclesiastical level. Gregory gave the opening address; and we have its text in the sermon, On His Ordination.tn Though scholars like Bardenhewer would date this sermon to the year 3g4, there is every indication that it was pronounced at the Council of 38r.'o

INTRODUC'TION

7

Gregory thereafter became one of the leading personalities of the Eastern Church. The Council gave him jurisdiction, together with Otreius and Helladius, over Cappadocia and Pontus. He was also sent to Arabia: here two bishops were

disputing over the see of Bosra, and the Antidicomarianite heresy was at its height.2l Returning from Arabia, he visited |erusalem and the holy places.'2 While there he was accused of Apollinarianism, and we have a letter in which he defended himself on this score." By the end of 38r we find him back in Nyssa. The following winter was spent com' posing the treatise Against Apollinaris and another work Against Eunomius.2a His mention, in Against Apollinaris,2s of the long journey he has just completed doubtless refers to his mission in Arabia; indeed, his experience in |erusalem showed him how imperative it was to come out clearly on the Christological problem. Theodosius now held a council at Constantinople every year; and at the Council convoked in the spring of 383 Gregory gave a sermon on the divinity of the Son and the Holy Spirit.'6 This discourse can be dated with certainty for Gregory writes: Count now the royal luminaries, of the same number as the Evangelists, that divided among them the whole world and illumine it with the light of

piety and peace. For God has imitated the first miracle He performed at the creation of the world: He has appointed not only the great luminary to rule over all visible things, but He has also joined to it the smaller one, that mingles its own reflected light with its parent's rays.21

8

FROM GLORY TO GLORY

Now this surely fits the spring of 383. For on fanuary 16 of that year the emperor Theodosius had his young son Arcadius proclaimed Augustus. Thus there would have been four "luminaries": Gratian and Valentinian II in the East, Theodosius and Arcadius in the West. The "smaller luminary" obviously refers to Arcadius, who was then only nine years old.

During these years Gregory enjoyed the favor of the imperial court. In 385 he was chosen to deliver the funeral eulogies in honor of the departed empress Flacilla and her daughter Pulcheria. At Constantinople, too, Gregory enjoyed the friendship of Olympias, one of the most outstanding women of the age. This was the lady to whom St. |ohn Chrysostom was to address so many letters during his exile' And it was to her, some years later, that Gregory would dedicate his Cornmentary on the Canticle o"f Canticles about the year 389. During these years Gregory played an important role in the ecclesiastical afiairs of Asia Minor. It was undoubtedly in 382 that he wrote to the church of Nicomedia in connection with the election of their new bishop." And at Easter, 383, he sent Letoiushis Canonical Epistle: Letoius had succeeded Otreius as bishop of Melitene in Cappadocia, and the document is extremely valuable for the information it gives

in Asia Minor at this period. Meanwhile his theological activity did not abate. The winter of 382/3 saw the publication of his third and longest treatise against Eunomius;" the last installment was not composed until after the Council of Constantinople in 383,

us on ecclesiastical discipline

at which Eunomius made his solemn profession of faith. The Grea, Catechetical Discourse belongs perhaps to the winter of

INTRODUCTION 9 S8Z/a,.In any case, it would fit a period of Gregory's life

when he was in close contact with philosophical circles at Constantinople and felt he had to make some reply to their objections to the dogma of the Incarnation. The treatise Against the Pneumatornachi perhaps belongs to the following winter, Z8+/S.But it is admittedly difficult to date these works with any certainty. Gregory's influence, at its peak during the years 38o-385, seems to decline sharply after 386. He began to be attacked from different quarters. In 386, for example, he wrote to Theophilus, who had been elected bishop of Alexandria in the previous year, to defend himself against the charge that his Christological doctrine was tainted with Antiochene tendencies.so We have several other pieces on the Trinity written during the same period, 386387, in which he defends himself on the charge that his Trinitarian doctrine was tritheistic. And, finally, his influence at the imperial court of Constantinople was on the wane. Chrysostom's star was in the ascendant; and there is a brief, sad allusion, in one of Gregory's discourses,st to the oratorical success of younger men-perhaps a reference to John Chrysostom. Finally, in Asia Minor the prerogatives of the bishcps began to be restricted to their own dioceses; and Gregory was coming into conflict with his metropolitan, Helladius.3' Such trials, however, did not curtail his activity; they merely gave it a new direction. Once freed from administra' tive burdens and the heat of theological controversy, Gregory now turned himself whoily towards the life of the spirit' It was a change rvhich reflected the interior evolution which he had been undergoing. The writings that come from this period reveal an extraordinary originality and mastery of his

INTRODUCTION

IO

FROM GLORY TO GLORY subject. We now see him completely in control of a solid spiritual doctrine, as we find it in the brilliant Commentary on the Canticle of Canticles, and the little treatise,The Lile of Moses. Gregory's intention, as Werner faeger has shown,u' was to give a mystical orientation to the monastic rnovement organized by his brother Basil. Now he began to resume the thinking which had occupied him at the time of his first work, the Treatise on Virginity. In the De instituto chris' tiano, a treatise on the goal of Christian asceticism, he sets forth in complete outline the fundamental spiritual doctrine of St. Basil. These works contain the essence of Gregory's

spiritual message. But in the l-i't'e of Moses there are clear allusions to his old age.tn And though there are a number of works which belong to this final period, we hear no more of Gregory after the Council of Constantinople which he attended in 394. He must have been already infirm at this time; and he probably did not have much longer to live.

2.

GREGORY'S DOCTRINE ON THE IMAGE OF GOD

II

text (Gen. r.z6), recognizing no clistinction between image and hrteness. There is no opposition in his teaching between the natural and the supernatural man of modern terminology. For him the natural man is man as he was created in God's concrete plan-that is, man with all those gifts which we now call supernatural. This is clear from his treatjse Oz tlte Creation of Man: for here the gifts of purity, charity and happiness are considered as belonging to human nature in the same way as intelligence and free wiil.3'i But man as he is now is far from being an image of God in this sense. "Wherer" he asks, "is the divine character in the soul ? Where is that freedom from pain ? Where is our immortality 1"36 How are we to explain this I Human nature, as it is now, cannot be as God intended it in the beginning, and as it will surely be in the end. What has been added to human nature, to this image of God in man, according to Gregory, is the garment of sftin (Gen.3.zr). This garrnent of sftin in us is made up of all tliose things which we have in common with animals; it is:

IN MAN

Gregory's spiritual doctrine is intimately bound up with his concept of man's nature, and its fundamental direction consists in th.e restoration of the image of God in man. Hence for our present study we must begin with Gregory's teaching on the nature of man-one of the most difficult as well as one of the most interesting areas of his thought. His doctrine can be found, substantially, in the Great Cate' chetical Discourse and in the treatise On the Creation of Man. He begins, of course, with the biblical doctrine that man was created in God's image. But departing from an interpretation held by other Fathers of the Church, Gregory adhcres more closely to the literal meaning of the Scriptural

sexual union, conception, childbirth, dirt, nursing, food, excrement, the gradual growth of the body towards maturity, adulthood, old age, sickness and death.37

Wlrat is implied, therefore, in the garment of s\in is not, as Origen thought, the body as such; for in Gregory's view both the soul and the body were part of human nature in the beginning. Rather, it comprises all that implies mortality and corruptibility; and man's true nature is to e njoy the incorruptibility of the risen body.ut How then did this new state arise which is so contrary to

T2

FROM GLORY TO GLORY

our original conclition

I The ultimate

cause is man's freedom.

For freedom is a divine quality, and God could not create man in His image without giving him free will. And it may be noted here that Gregory, following Origen (and, indeed, anticipating St. Bernard), stresses free will more than intelligence in his analysis of man's likeness to God.'n Now since all created things are by nature changeable,no it follows that created freedom could separate itself from God. More proximately, holvever, man's sin was brought about by the iealousy of the angel to whom the universe had been entrusted, and who hated to see in his realm a man who was made in the image of God.n' This was a traditionally fewish concept of the relation between angels and the universe; the angel of the earth is troubled at the appearance of the first man, jrtst as the Prince of this world is vexed by the triumph of the new Adam. As soon, then, as man turned away from God, the source of life, his body was deprived of immortality and was clad in tlre garment of sftin. And yet, though this was a consequence of sin, it is intended to be more of a remedy than a punishment-an idea that is very important for an understanding of Gregory's thought. It is an idea that goes back to Origen's view of the medicinal character of suffering.n' In Gregory there are two aspects to be considered. In his work On t/te Dead he explains that the garment of sfrin aliows man to turn back again freely to God: since man had despised the life of the spirit for carnal pleasure, God did not wish man "to withdraw from sin unwillingly and be forced by necessity towards the good,"'3 for this would have destroyed man's freedom and the image of God within him. Hence He macle use of man's very tenclency by giving him

I

NTR

O

DU CTI

ON

13

the garmcnt of sftin. This would cause man to experience a

with the things of the world, and thus "he would willingly desire to return to his former blessedness."an In the Great Catechetical Discourse Gregory puts forward disgust

the second reason for the garnlent ol sftin, which derives not from Origen but from St. Athanasius. The idea is that the garment of sfrin, our present state of mortality, permits the bodily part of man to be destroyed; but since evil is so closely bound up with the body, evil too is destroyed, and thus man can be restored to his original innocence. Man's body returns

to earth like a vase of baked clay; thus the evil that was mingled with his body is now released, and the divine Potter can raise him up once more to his original beauty." Thus the garment of sftin, though really foreign to human nature,

was only given to man by a sollicitous providence, as by

a

doctor giving us a medicine to cure our inclination to evil without its being intended to last forever.ou In answer to the question whether man was created without the garnuent of sftin (that is, without mortality and all the things that sex implies), Gregory gives one answer in his work On the Creation of Man: "The grace of the resurrection is the restoration of fallen man to his primitive state."47 But in another passage in On the Creation of Man he puts forward another hypothesis, "as a kind of exercise."n* Here he suggests that God in His foreknowledge knew that man would abuse his freedom and would fall; and hence seeing that mait by his sin had fallen from his blessed angelic state, God established a rvay by which the human race could be propagated in accordance with our nature; thus the total number

t4

FROM GLORY TO GLORY

I

NTRO DUCTI ON

in his power. But on the Sunday, Christ breaks down the gates of Easter

of human souls would not be deficient, even though

convinced that Christ is definitely

man had now lost the method of propagation by which the angelic hosts had multiplied.ae

morning of

On this view (which is the one most important for us), God would have created man from the beginning with a mortal body through His foreknowledge of man's sin. It is against the background of this doctrine that Gregory explains the two accounts in Genesis of the creation of man. Philo had already detected in Genesis two stages in man's creation: in the first account, man, the first-born, is created in God's image as the predxistent archetype of the intelligible world; in the second, man, created as male and female, is man as he actually appears on earth. Gregory also retains a distinction; but he will have no use for any theory of real predxistence along the lines followed by Origen in dependence on Philo. But in man created in God's image he sees the predxistence of human nature in the perfection of the divine knowledge-such as it will be only at the end of time.5o Thus for Gregory, man created as male and female though first in the order of time is only second in the order of intention.sl In discussing the Fall Gregory emphasizes the same two aspects which characterize his doctrine of the Atonement: man's mortality and the role of the devil.52 The role of the devil is one of the least understood of Gregory's doctrines. It was traditional in the early Church to consider Christ's Atonement as a victory over the devil. There are two stages in this account: after the Temptation, the devil has suspected that Jesus would be a formidable adversary in his dominion over the world; then, on the night of Good Friday he is

r5

death, releasing all whom the devil had held

in his power.

In this way, fesus, Who the devil thought would be the means of his victory, becomes the source of his utter defeat. On this view, the devil was thought to be deceived; and this is the theory that Gregory emphasizes: The Godhead hid under the covering of our human nature so as to offer an easy bait to him who sought to exchange us for a more precious prize. And the aim was that just like a greedy fish he would swal-

low the hook of divinity together with the bait of the flesh. Thus life would come to dwell in death, light would appear in darkness, and thus light and life would achieve the destruction of all that stood against them.53

Gregory's imagery is clear. The trick consisted in letting the devil take the bait in hopes that he will gain a greater prize:' but he is caught in the trap, and losing this he loses all. And

Gregory concludes: That the deceiver was deceived and got his deserts shows forth God's justice; the entire aim of the transaction bears witness to the goodness of its Author.5a

It is clear that there is no trace here of the theory of the devil's rights in the strict sense.tt In attempting to explain why God chose to become man and suffer death, when He could have broken the power of the devil by a simple decree, Gregory suggests that this was in accord with divine justice-

16

FROM GLORY TO GLORY a justice which consisted in deceiving the deceiver according to his deserts. There is thus no question of any real right which the devil had over the souls of men. As Gregory profoundly saw, the devil could not have exercised his tyranny over man if man had not deliberately sold himself to the devil.uu Hence, seeing that it was God's will that the Atonement should bring about the restoration of all that had been lost ih Adam, God's plan dernanded that human nature should cooperate in its own liberation: what was lost through Adam would be restored through the new Adam. Now the second aspect of man's Fall which we must consider is its effects on the body, especially corruptibility and death. We have already seen that for Gregory this was not merely a punishment, but it was also to be a means of man's elevation, to his ultimate elimination of sin. But it remains true that this is still a purely negative consequence; it does not of itself restore man's original state. But Christ by His redemptive mission united Himself, by His death, to man in a state of dissolution: He reunited all the separated elements as though by a glue, that is, by the divine Power' and fitted together into an indissoluble union all that had been separated. This is the meaning of the resurrection: it is the restoration' of the elements that had been separated, to an indissoluble union' that the original grace that hurnan nature possessed might be recovered, now that the evil that adhered to it has been dissipated by dissolution.sT should here be remarked that for Gregory the Incarnation and the Atonement would appear to be identical. The

It

INTRODUCTION

t7

Incarnation is the union of the Word not merely with human nature as such but with fallen nature,the sarx. Now the state of fallen nature is chiefly characterized by death. Thus Christ did not suffer death because He had been born; rather, it was because of death that He chose to be born. Eternal Life had no need of life, but He entered our bodily existence in order to restore us from death to life. Our eritire nature had to be recalled from death; hence He stretched forth His hand, as it were, to the dead body, and came to see the place where we had fallen. Indeed He came so close to death as to touch mortality itself, that He might make of our own nature, in His body, a principle of resurrection.s8

Thus the Incarnation-Atonement is the union of the Word with man in a state of death to bring about man's resurrection. Christ's resurrection is indeed "a principle of resurrection" for all humanity: Just as death was transmitted to all men by a single act, so too, by the action of one Man the principle

of resurrection is extended to all humanity.so

And this should be understood in a very real way: for no theologian has insisted more than Gregory uPon the solidarity of all mankind. Thus the image of God in man consists, for him, in the concrete totality of all mankind, united in one body,uo as foreseen in God's eternal knowledge and to be realized in fact at the end of time. It follows that the Word could not be united with a specific

I8

FROM GLORY TO GLORY

human nature without having an effect upon the whole of humanity. This is the doctrine of the treatise Against ApolIinaris, and Gregory expresses it in some striking imagery. Humanity is the lost sheep that has wandcred from the ninety-nine angelic spirits, and Christ the Good Shepherd has come to find it. Referring to the Incarnation Gregory says: "He took upon FIis shoulders the whole sheep."ul Again, he compares fallen nature to a broken reed; Christ in fining together the pieces at one point restores the whole.62 Some scholars have wrongly thought that Gregory is here teaching that the Word was hypostatically united with all humanity; but it is clear from a good number of texts that he is merely emphasizing, in a very real sense, the solidarity of all mankind. Now Christ has won for all humanity the right to resurrection, but each individual must acquire it for himself by means of the sacraments. In Gregory's doctrine sacramental theology plays a very important role. In the treatise Against Eunomius he insists that the "strength of Christianity" consists not in philosophical speculation but in the "power of regeneration by faith" and in the "participation in mystical symbols and rites."6t In accordance with ancient tradition, Gregory's sacramental theology has three principal aspects. The first is the explanation of the sacramental symbols found in the Old Testament; the most important text for this aspect is the sermon On the Baptism of Christ.oa The second is rnystagogia, or mystical initiation properly so-called, which consists of an explanation of the symbolism involved in the sacramental rites; here the most interesting discussion is found in the sermon Against Those Who Put Ofr Baptism.Bs The third and final aspect is the strict theological exposition

such as we find

INTRODUCTION

rg

it principally in the Great

Cathechetical Dis-

course.

Baptism is primarily

for Gregory a sacramental initiation

into the mystery of Christ's death and resurrection, which at the same time accomplishes in us the efiect of Christ's action.

Unfortunate humanity was imprisoned

in

the

prison of this life. What then did the Author of our salvation do ? After three days of death He rose again. . . . So too by plunging three times in water instead of earth, by entering and rising three times we imitate the grace of the resurrection on the third d"y.ou

Gregory further clarifies this concept within the framework of his own Atonement theology. ]ust as Christ's death purified human nature of all that had modified it, and His resurrection restored humanity in its entirety, so too Baptism achieves the same effect, although, it is true, in an inchoate way. For sin to be destroyed completely, one would have to undergo complete death.67 Gregory's doctrine on Baptism makes use of the various Biblical types, especially the crossing of the Red Sea.68 In another image which he uses we find the River fordan considered as one of the rivers of Paradise, and this symbolism stresses the idea of rebirth-Baptism is thus represented as a return to the Garden of Eden.on The entrance into the baptistery means that "the Garden of Paradise and, indeed, heaven itself is once again accessible to man" and that "the sword of flame no longer prevents his approach."?' The

2c'

FROM GLORY TO GLORY change of garments at Baptism signifies the removal of the garment of 69 leaves which man wore after the Fall and the recovery of the "tunic of incorruptibility."?1 Again, the ]ordan is considered as a figure of Baptism in the traditional way, as for example, by reference to the cure of Naaman the leperrt'or to the entrance of the ]ews into the Promised Land. Cross the Jordan, [he says,] hasten towards the new life in Christ, to the land that bears fruit in happiness, flowing with milk and honey according to the promise. Overthrow Jericho, your former way of life! . . . All these things are figures of the reality

which is now made manifest.Ts

But what is original with Gregory is the linking of the |ordan with the Garden of Eden. Taking up an idea which seems to have been first developed by the Gnostics, Gregory contrasts the rivers that flow down from Paradise with the Jordan, which flows back to heaven and has its source in

INTRODUCTION

zt

into an immense stream which carries men back to Paradiie. Gregory considers the Eucharist primarily as the realization of the eschatological meal foretold in the Old Testament. The three important texts in this connection are Prov. 9.5, Ps. 22.5, and Cant. 5.r;?5 and all of these are explained by Gregory in a Eucharistic sense. Wisdom's cup, as we find it in Proverbs, frequently has in Gregory a Eucharistic meaning.t6 The sermon On the Ascension gives us an excellent commentary on Ps. 22,77 a text which is indeed most important in the ancient sacramental liturgy. There is a similar treatment of the invitation which the Spouse of the Canticle offers to his friends to attend the marriage banquet: Eat, my friends, and drin\, and be inebriated, my brothers (Cant. 5.r). For one who is familiar with the mysteries of the Gospel there will appear no difierence between this text and the words used in the mystic initiation of the Apostles. For there too does He say. Eat and drinft.I8

Christ.

Hurry to my Jordan, not at the call of fohn, but at the command of Christ. For the river of grace does not rise in Palestine and flow into the nearby sea, but flows everywhere, circling the entire world, and empties into Paradise. For it flows in a different direction from those four streams which flow from Eden and bears a cargo much more precious than that which was borne out by them. . . . For it brings back those who have been reborn by the Spirit.?a The true |ordan that covers the entire world is the water of Baptism, consecrated by the Baptism of Christ, and it grows

Gregory's theological explanation of the Eucharist follows the same eschatological lines. If the soul is regenerated by Baptism, our corruptible bodies need a remedy which would make them immortal. And this remedy is the risen body of

Christ, now become for us a source of Life: ]ust as a little bit of leaven, as the Apostle says, changes all of the dough into itself, so too that body which was brought to death by God, once it enters into us transforms and changes all unto itself.Te

In order to enter into our bodies, the glorious body of Christ takes on the appearances of bread and wine. Such a realistic

t 22

INTRODUCTION

FROM GLORY TO GLORY

doctrine of the Eucharist is in the same direction as the teach' ing of Ignatius of Antioch, Irenaeus, and Athanasius. Ignatius had already spoken of the Eucharist as the "medicine of immortality";to and Irenaeus had written: "Our bodies, receiving the Eucharist, are no longer corruptible."sl But Gregory also discusses the Eucharist as a sacrifice as well as a sacrament. Here we should quote a rather striking passage, which was utilized by Pdre de la Taille in his Mls-

teriam Fidei.In wishing to point out the voluntary asPect of Christ's death, and hence its sacrificial character, Gregory shows that this death was already accomplished at the Last Supper: for the Victim cannot be given to the Apostles to eat unless it is dead. Hence the ofiering of the Last Supper appears as a sacramental anticipation of the sacrifice of the

23

tered throughout his Scriptural commentaries.tn Here, however, I must content myself with indicating merely the general lines of development, emphasizing the more characteristic traits of Gregorian spirituality.

3.

THE SYMBOL OF DARKNESS

Following an idea already found in Origen, Gregory distinguished three broad ways within the spiritual life. In Gregory, however, these three ways are quite different from those we commonly meet with: Moses' vision of God began with light; afterwards God spoke to him in a cloud. But when Moses rose higher and became more perfect, he saw God in the darkness.8s

Cross:

When He gave His disciples His body to eat and His blood to drink, His body was already immolated according to the will of Him Who by His power accomplished this mystery in an invisible and ineflable manner.82

Now Gregory's spiritual doctrine, which is undoubtedly the most important part of his work, must be seen as an extension of His sacramental theology. The spiritual life of which he speaks is merely the flowering of the faculties of the soul, insofar as they have been raised to the supernatural level by the sacraments. In a favorite image, Gregory com' has been vivified by the sacraments to the trees that were planted in the Garden of

pares the virtues

of the soul that

Paradise.es Gregory's

spiritual teaching can be found

scat-

Thus the spiritual life is represented as moving from light to darkness. Paradoxical as this may at first seem, it is precisely Gregory's thought; and thus we may see at once his fundamental originality, and, especially, his advance beyond Origen's position. Gregory emphasizes the importance of the obscurity of the mystical union as opposed to the clear contemplation of the spirit, insisting that it is only through this obscurity that the soul can reach Him Who is beyond all intellectual comprehension.

Thus the first waf, the way of light, is for beginners' In contrast with the darkness of sin, the supernatural life is an illumination. This way is marked by the purification of the soul from all foreign elements and by the restoration of the image of God. The first stage consists in a struggle against the passions-and the passions, for Gregory' are not our

FROM GLORY TO GLORY bodily inclinations as such, for these will not be removed

INTRODUCTION

24

until the resurrection, but rather their perversion. The struggle against the passions involves an intensification of the soul's inner life by the practice of recollection: the soul seeks to unify its faculties by turning away from the multiplicity of external things.*u In this way is the image of God restored. And for Gregory its characteristic marks are aPathia, or detachment from all worldly distractions, and panhtsia, or a childlike confidence in God which man regains as soon as all fear and shame are banished.s? This process of unification and purification makes the soul more like God, and hence allows it to attain its first knowledge of Him within itself. And so the second way is characterized by this knowledge of God "within the mirror of the soul." Gregory compares it to a cloud: Next comes a closer awareness of hidden things, and by this the soul is guided through sense phenomena to the world of the invisible. And this awaren€ss is a kind of cloud, which overshadows all appearances, and slowly guides and accustoms the soul to look towards what is hidden.88

Here we enter, properly speaking into the realm of mysticism. But it should, however, be noted that the three ways are not strictly exclusive of one another. Though each way has its dominant trait, the trait may also be found to some extent in the others. For example, the first way is characterized by purification, but this remains as well in the other two stages; the second way is characterized by knowledge, but this had already begun in the first way and, of course, continues in the third.

What does Gregory mean by the knowledge of God in the mirror of the soul ? This is a most important aspect of his mystical doctrine. But there is no question here of any experiential knowledge of the soul's own substance in the Platonic sense, as E. von Ivanka has rightly pointed out. It is an awareness of grace; and this awareness is expressed by Gregory in the doctrine of the spiritual senses which he had inherited from Origen and developed quite extensively. In this awareness, then, there is knowledge of God; but it is not a knowledge of His essence (and this is the important point), which is inaccessible, but rather an experience of His presence. Gregory uses the extraordinary expression, "the feeling

of

presence."se

The basis of this awareness, and that which gives it its special character as an essentially Christian experience, is the inhabitation of the Trinity within the soul. This divinization of the soul is indeed a divine activity, implying the special presence of God within the soul. And this Presence Gregory compares with a sachet of myrrh without which clothing can lose its fragrance. Thus grace is like the fragrance which betrays the presence of spikenard, the ray that refects the sun, the taste that reveals the substance. Thus the knowledge of God in the mirror of the soul is truly knowledge of God and not of the soul; but it is not a direct knowledge, inasmuch as God's presence is known by and through His activity in the soul; in explaining the meaning of the verse My spifrenard sent forth the odor of him (Cant. r.rr), Gregory comments that no matter how perfect a Person might become,

even then he would not be able to look steadily upon the Word of God, no more than he could the

r i i'

I

26

FROM GLORY TO GLORY

INTRODUCTION

sun. But he can look upon this Sun within himself in a mirror.eo

Such knowledge only becomes possible by the grace of Christ, which elevates man's mind above itself; by it the invisible becomes visible. And this illumination of the human spirit is the grace of contemplation. But in Gregory of Nyssa, and especially in his later works, as the Life ol Moses, and the Commentary on the Canticle of Canticles, the term "darkness" takes on a new meaning and an essentially mystical connotation. It expresses the fact that the divine essence remains inaccesible even to the mind that has been enlightened by grace, and that the awareness of this inaccessibility constitutes the highest form of contemplation. Gregory's originality consists in the fact that he was the first to express this characteristic of the highest stages of mystical experience. We find the theme of darkness employed by Gregory in three difierent ways. In one passage, which is not too relevant here, the darkness refers to the inability of the fews to comprehend the glory of God.ea In its second meaning, the darkness is used of the knowledge of those divine truths which we could not have known without revelation. This knowledge or gnosis is indeed an illumination, but it is a kind of darkness for those who have not been granted it. We find this usage, for example, in the Commentary on the Sir Days of Creation, where Gregory, in speaking of Moses, says that, elevated in spirit above the rest, he enjoyed the contemplation of heavenly things "within the darkness of his vision."e5 But the text here is concerned with Moses receiving the revelation about the creation of the world. In a similar way Gregory speaks of the divine secrets being revealed to the saints of the Christian dispensation. Thus of Gregory Thaumarurgus, he says:

as

In this way the soul can experience the indwelling of God within it. At first this experience is capable of satisfying it. But the more the soul makes progress, the more it discovers that God infinitely transcends all that it can ever know of Him. At this point we are introduced to the third way, which is the knowledge of God in the darkness. This knowledge consists in being aware that the true knowledge of God is to know that our goal transcends all knowledge and is everywhere cut ofi from us by the darkness of incompre-

hensibility.el

At first this awareness

makes the soul despair, until, as Gregory tells us, it discovers that to find God is to seek Him without endrn' and that the true satisfaction of her desire consists in constantly going on with her quest and never ceasing in her ascente3 towards God. Here we are at the very heart of Gregory's spiritual doctrine. However, Gregory is not the first writer in whom we find this theme of darkness. It appears on occasion in Clement of Alexandria and Origen. But its true meaning is to be sought on a theological level. It means that to man's natural powers the knowledge of the divine essence is impossible.

27

FROM GLORY TO GLORY

INTRODUCTION

His darkness was a vision not vouchsafed to others.

know God, but also to the impenetrable depths of the divine essence.nt It is this sense which will become clear from the decisive quotations from the Life of Moses and the Com' rnentary on the Canticle ol Canticles. Our most important text on this problem comes from the Life of Moses and should be quoted in full:

28

. . . Thus he received (and all those who were initiated by him) a revelation of the mysteries.eo

In a similar vein he speaks of his brother Basil: Often we saw him enter into the darkness where God was. By the mystical guidance of the Spirit he understood what was invisible to others, so that he seemed to be enveloped in that darkness in which the Word of God is concealed.oT

29

What now is the meaning of Moses' entry into the darkness and of the vision of God that he enjoyed in it? ... The sacred text is here teaching us that . . . as the soul makes progress' and by a greater and more perfect concentration comes to appreciate

be noted, however, that in all these passages it is a question of knowledge that is communicated only to a privileged person and is concealed from the rest. This is really the Pauline concept of mystery: it is God's hidden design, which cannot be known without revelation, but can be understood once it is revealed. Thus there is no question here of the essential incomprehensibility of the divine nature. It is the third use of the term "darkness" in which we are primarily interested here, and it occurs in a most important group of texts. We first see it in the Commentary on thc Psalms, where Gregory speaks of Moses,

It will

whose eyes sharply penetrated the divine darkness, and therein contemplated the invisible.o8

In itself the passage might

have been taken another way, as referring to the fact that Moses saw what had in itself been invisible. But it would seem that Gregory is already using

the term (to borrow the terminology of Pdre Mardchal) to refer not merely to the relative incapacity of our minds to

what the knowledge of truth is, the more it approaches this vision, and so much the more does it see that the divine nature is invisible. It thus leaves all surface appearances, not only those that can be grasped by the senses but also those which the mind itself seems to see, and it keeps on going deeper until by the operation of the spirit it Penetrates the

invisible and incomprehensible, and it is there that it sees God. The true vision and the true knowledge of what we seek consists precisely in not seeing, in

an awareness that our goal transcends all knowledge and is everywhere cut ofi from us by the darkness of incomprehensibility. Thus that profound evangelist, fohn, who penetrated into this luminous darkness, tells us that no man hath seen God at any

time, teachrng us by this negation that no manindeed, no created intellect-can attain a knowledge of God.loo

Now it is clear that the point here is not that supernatural truths are relatively obscure for the natural man; for Gregory

FROM GLORY TO GLORY

3o

that the soul has already been enlightened by grace, and is discussing its further progress in contemplation. After learning all that can be known of God, the soul discovers the limits of this knowledge; and this discovery is an advance, because now there is an awareness of the divine transcendence and incomprehensibility. We have then arrived at a negative, "apophatic" theology. For we have now an authentic experience, a true vision. And the darkness is a positive reality that helps us to know God-that is why it is called luminous. For it implies an awareness of God that transcends all determination, and thus it is far truer than any determined categorical knowledge. For here in this obscurity the soul experiences the transcendence of the divine nature, that infinite distance by which God surpasses all creation. Thus the soul finds itself as it were elevated above all created things and at the same time lost in an infinite darkness wherein it loses its contact with things, though it is aware of God despite the total incapacity of its knowledge. The mystical character of this experience is more clearly developed in the Commentary on the Canticle of Canticles. In commenting on the verse, In my bed by night I sought him . . . and found hint not (Cant. 3.r), Gregory explains that the word "bed" suggests that the soul has become the spouse of the Word, and being united to Him by love, she has received a share in His goods.tot With regard to the "nightr" he says:

presupposes

By the night she refers to the contemplation of the invisible, just as Moses, who entered into the derkness to the place rvhere God wasl and God, as the Prophet says, matle tlte darftness his couert rottnd

INTRODUCTION

3r

about him. . . . Now, she says, that I have been deemed worthy of the nuptial rites, I rest as it were upon the bed of all that I have hitherto understood. But I am suddenly introduced into the realm of the invisible, surrounded by the divine darkness, searching for Him Who is hidden in the darft cloud. Then it was that I felt that love for Him Whom I desired-though the Beloved Himself resists the grasp of our thoughts. . . . Then at last she gives up all she has found; for she realizes that

what she seeks can be understood only in the very inability to comprehend His essence, and that every intelligible attribute becomes merely a hindrance

to those who seek to find Him. This is why she says: When I had a little passed by them,I abandoned ali creatures and passed by all that is intelligible in creation; and when I gave up every finite mode of comprehension, then it was that I found my Beloved by faith. And 1 uill neuer let Him go, now that I have found Him, from the grasp of faith, until He comes within my charnber. For the heart is indeed a chamber to be filled by the divine

indwelling-that is, when it is restored to the state that it had in the beginning.lo2 This text provides an important clarification. For it is clear now that Gregory is speaking of a soul that has already arrived at a high degree of union with God by divine love. We are thus at the very summit of the spiritual life. One would have thought that such a union would involve a vision of the divine essence. But this is not so: God escapes the grasp of the intellect; and the soul then realizes that the true knowledge of God is not where it had looked for it. "Any

32

INTRODUCTION

FROM GLORY TO GLORY

representation," says Gregory, "is nothing but an obstacle."lO3 For God is beyond every representation. This does not, however, mean that there is no contact with God, but merely that this contact is not by way of the understanding but by faith. It is only in the obscurity of faith that the soul can grasp the transcendent Godhead. And thus we are directly on the way that leads to St. john of the Cross. God, as He is in Himself, is Darkness for the intellect, but can be grasped by faith. In this way it is clear that the knowledge of God in the darkness is not merely negative. It is truly an experience of the presence of God as He is in Himself, in such wise that this awareness is completely blinding for the mind, and all the more so, the closer it is to Him. In fact, one might

almost say that the darkness expresses the divine presence, and that the closer He comes to the soul, the more intense is the darkness. The image of darkness is merely a way of expressing the fact that the awesomeness of the divine essence is more than human nature can endure. Hence the fullness of the divine existence-for that is really what the darkness means-does not draw close to the soul save by slow stages. At first it does not experience the darkness itself, but rather those drops of night (Cant. 5.2)-for as yet it could not endure more. And this Gregory explains in a final pasage: The reward for receiving Me fsays the Beloved] and taking Me into your house will be the deru of. My head, with which I am 6lled, and, the drops ol the night which flow down from My locfts. . . . When a man enters into the precinct of the hidden and invisible, it is impossible that he should en-

33

counter a storm or a torrent of illumination. Rather it is sufficient if Truth merely whets our knowledge

with some meagre and obscure ideas; and

these

spiritual drops flow through the saints and God's representatives.lo4

4.

SOBER TNEBRIATION

In this union

between God and the soul, the closeness of the divine nature (designated by the darkness) causes the soul, as it were, to go out of itself, by reason of the attraction which God exercises upon it. This state is primarily characterized by a passivity; indeed, the influence exercised on the soul is from without, and the soul itself is completely overpowered. This is the reason why the terms used to describe this state are those which usually apply to the passions, as, for example, love, intoxication, and so forth. Tlie soul enters into a sphere which transcends its own limitations:

from the laws of its own nature and intelligence. Lastly, the intensity of this state may manifest itself in such an absorption in God that the soul becomes unconscious of all else. This, however, is secondary. The essential element of any ecstas/: as I. Hausherr has rightly said, is "a going out of oneself, not by an unconsciousness involving the suspension of sense activity, but by a kind of projection of the soul beyond the laws of reason under the impulse of love."105 This going out of oneself, which is characteristic of the mystical experience of Darkness, is designated by Gregory in different ways: he speaks of ecstasy' inebriation, the passion of love, dizziness, sleep, madness, wounding. Now although each of these images suggests different nuances of

thus

it

experiences a true withdrawal

FROM GLORY TO GLORY

J't

it would

think that they designate different states of soul. Actually the choice of expression depends primarily on the Scriptural context which is being discussed. Thus the word darkness is always used in connection with Moses. The word ecstasy appears when the Scriptural text refers to it, and, especially in Gregory's discussion of Abraham (Gen. r5.n), David (Ps. rr5.z), Paul (Ps.67.28), and Peter (Acts ro.ro). Similarly, the expression "inebriation" is found in connection with Wisdom's banquet (Prov. 9.3), the Canticle (5.2), and the goodly chalice of the meaning,

be a mistake to

Psalms (Ps. zz.5). Finally, the idea of passionate love, or eros, is linked in general with the Canticle of Canticles. The first of these expressions, ecstasy, designates, as we have said, the soul's going out of itself by reason of the intensity of the divine presence, and we find it so used from the time

of Gregory's first published work, the Treatise on Virginity. Gregory, in explaining how God transcends all created goods, says that these are as clrops of water to the boundless depths of the sea, or as sparks to the brilliance of the sun. Hence

The soul that does see [God's beauty] by some divine gift and inspiration, retains his ecstasy unexpressed in the secret of his consciousness. . . . The great David rightly shows us how impossible this is. Lifted out of himself by the Spirit, he glimpsed in that blessed ecstasy God's infinite and incomprehensible beauty. . . . And though yearning to say something which would do justice to his vision, he can only cry out. . . : Euery man is a liar.ro6

Gregory speaks clearly here of the transcendence of the divine nature, which sweeps the soul out of itself into a state

INTRODUCTI ON also note the reference to the "impossible," which we have met before; it clearly shows that the soul is completely overpowered.

of awe and ecstasy. We may

In another passage, from the treatise Against

Eunomius,

we will see the same ideas occurring in connection with Abraham's ecstasy as we found in the discussion of Moses' experience of darkness: By going out of his native land, that is, out of himself, out of the realm of base and earthly thoughts,

Abraham raised his mind as far as possible above the common limits of our human nature. Abraham passed ti-rrough all the reasoning that is possible to human nature about the divine attributes, and after he had purified his mind of all such concepts) he took hold of a faith that was unmixed and pure of any concept, and he fashioned for himself this token of knowledge of God that is completely clear and free of error, namely the belief that God completely transcends any knowable symbol. And so, after this ecstasy which came upon him as a result of these lofty visions, Abraham returned once more to his human frailty: I am,he admits, dust and ashes, mute, inert, incapable of explaining rationally the Godhead that my mind has seen. . . . In his life we are taught that for those u,ho are advancing in the divine paths there is no other way of drawing near to God than by the intermediary of faith; it is only through faith that the questing soul can unite itself with the incomprehensible Godhead.loT

Our text, of course, occurs in a theological, not a mystical, work. And this explains why Gregory emphasizes the fact

FROM GLORY TO GLORY that the divine nature transcends all determination. This is

INTRODUCTION

36

not, however, a negative sort of transcendence, like that of the Neo-platonic One. The text speaks of an ecstasy which "comes upon" the soul, causing it to go out of itself, and enter into the realm of the Godhead, from which it returns again to its human frailty. Again, the ecstasy is linked with the proximity, that is, the presence, of God; hence the soul is united with the living God of the Bible and not with the abstract essence of the Neo-platonists. Finally, the most important point is that faith is seen to be the only way by which the soul can be united to the Transcendent. And as can be seen from the similarity of treatment, we are on the same level as we were in the Cotnmentary on the Canticle of Canticles in connection with the image of darkness. But what is most important here is the connection between Gregory's mystical doctrine and his theology. The progress made by the theology of transcendence during the fourth century brought about a more scientific formulation of an experience which, we may be sure, had not been unknown to the mystics of previous centuries, even though they had been unable to give it such accurate expression. The idea of ecstasy in Gregory is intimately connected with that of "sober inebriation." The expression, as we know, originates with Philo,lot and shows once again, as in the case of the notions of darkness and ecstasy, Gregory's dependence upon the great fewish mystic. The expression, "sober inebriation," is a paradox, very much like the "luminous darkness." It emphasizes the passivity of true ecstasy as compared with the effects of actual intoxication. And it is called "sober" to suggest that the state is not infra-rational but rather supraratronal. So too, the expression "luminous darkness" suggested

37

that the obscurity of the mind was not a defect-as, for example, if one would speak of the darkness of ignorancebut, on the contrary, the efiect of an excess of light' The theme of sober inebriation apPears in Gregory's works a number of times;ton but the most imPortant text is one from the ninth sermon of the Commentary on the Canticle of Canticles, which offers a commentary on Cant' 5't: Eat' my friends, and drinft, and be inebriated, my brothers' Gregory explains that

All intoxication causes the mind, overwhelmed with wine, to go into an

ecstasy,

but here there is an ecstasy involving a transformation

from

a worse to a better condition'

He thus brings out clearly the difierence between ecstasy and inebriation. He then continues:

In this way the mighty David became intoxicated and went out of himself : he saw, while in ecstasy' that divine beauty which no mortal can behold' and cried out in those famous words: Euery man is a liar.rro

Once again we find the theme of David's ecstasy together with thi same exPressions that occurred in the Treatise on Virginity. David,indeed, occupies Gregory in a number of othJr passag.r.ttt Here, however, the concePt of ecstasy is furthei clat-ified by that of inebriation' And the "beauty

t 38

INTRODUCTION

FROM GLORY TO GLORY

which no mortal can behold"-just as we have seen it in our discussion of the darkness-refers to the ultimate incomprehensibility of the divine nature, and not merely to the inability of man to understand supernatural reality. Gregory gives other examples of this ecstatic inebriation as it is found in the Scriptures: So too Paul, the new Benjamin, while in ecstasy, said: Whether ue be transported in mind, it is to God, for this ecstasy was a moverqent towards the Godhead; or uhether we be sober, it is for you.tt'

"new Benjamin in ecstasy" is based on the verse of the Psalm, There is Beniantin a youth, in ecstasy of mind."3 And Gregory explains this as follows: The reference to Paul

as a

The Old Testament foreshadowed the characteristic traits of the Apostles by the use of figures and symbols. Among these is, for example, the reference to Beniamin a youth, in ecstasy ol mind, instructed in the mysteries. And this is none other than Paul, the divine Apostle, of the race of Abraham and the tribe of Benjamin.lla

Here Gregory points out another characteristic of ecstasy: being inexpressible it cannot serve the purposes of instruction.

And we may recall in this connection St. Paul's distinction between the charism of prophecy and the charisms of revelation and the gift of tongues.

Finally, after Paul, we have St. Peter, who thus completes Gregory's list of those who enjoyed ecstasy.

39

I

am aware also [he says] that the blessed Peter experienced this sort of intoxication, hungry and drunk as he was at the same time. For even before real food was brought to him, being hungry and desirous to taste, while his household tuere Pre' paring,he experienced that divine and sober inebriation. And thus he went out of himself. . . .115

Here Gregory is referring to the pasage in Acts ro'ro, where the word ecsiasy is indeed used. In Gregory's description of it as a "divine and sober inebriation" we see, once again, the traditional paradox. And Gregory further emphasizes the "sober" quality of the experience by remarking that Peter was still lasting. This is perhaps an allusion to Peter's discourse in Acts zt5: These are not drunft as yoa suqPose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. Again the inebriation is said to come upon Peter in the same way as the ecstasy of Abraham. In this way the passivity, the violence and suddenness of the experience is again clearly emphasized' In the twelfth sermon from the Cornmentary on the Can' ticle, the passage on inebriation is immediately followed by a discussion of "sleep," in accordance with the verse that follows in the Canticle I sleep and my heart utatcheth (Cant' suited to express the 5.2). The notion of sleep is admirably e*p.rier,.e of ecstasy. For sleep is, in the strict sense, a kind of pathos, a passive experience, in which the mind goes out of itself and is under the control of the imagination' From this point of view the spiritual life is seen as an awakening' a waiching, that withdraws the soul from the illusory dreams of sensual pleasure.ttu But in the sleep of ecstasy the soul is swept out of itself and the limitations of its understanding'

FROM GLORY TO GLORY

INTRODUCTION

not by illusory dreams but by the sovereign reality of the presence of God. This sort of sleep is far superior to being awake; and this gives rise to a new expression, the paradox of "watchful sleep."

naked intuition. May we make ourselves worthy of this vision, achieving by this sleep the arvakening

40

Sleep usually follows drinking. . . . But this is indeed a strange sleep and foreign to nature's custom. In natural sleep the sleeper is not wide awake, and he who is wide awake is not sleeping. Sleeping and waking are contraries, and they succeed and follow one another. But in this case there is a strange and

contradictory fusion

of

opposites

in the same

state.1r7

In this notion of

sleep Gregory stresses a new characteristic of ecstasy. The soul is so carried away by God's reality and so absorbed in her contemplation of Him that she loses consciousness

of everything else:

The contemplation of our true good makes us despise all these things; and so the eye of the body sleeps. Anything that the eye reveals does not attract the perfect soul, because by reason it looks

only to those things which transcend the visible universe. . . . When all of [the senses] have been lulled into inactivity by a kind of sleep, the hearr's functioning becomes pure, the reason looks up to heaven, unshaken and unperturbed by the motion of the senses. . . . Thus the soul, enjoying alone the contemplation of Being, will not awake for anything that arouses sensual pleasure. After lulling to sleep every bodily motion, it receives the vision of God in a divine wakefulness with pure and

of the

4r

soul!118

Note that here, as always, Gregory does not stress the Psychological phenomenon of the suspension of the senses-which can be, in itself, very ambiguous-but rather the mystical experience of the intensity of the divine presence which sweeps the soul and absorbs all its attention. Gregory does not, of course, exclude the psychological repercussions; indeed, they would seem to be suggested by the concrete, experiential way in which he describes the phenomenon. Now the darkening of the intelligence, which is suggested by the image of darkness, expresses the inability of the soul to endure the brilliance of the divine light. The image of inebration suggests the soul's inability to endure the divine happiness. The symbol of vertigo, dizziness, refers to the immensity of the divine nature. It expresses the soul's complete confusion in the presence of a reality for which there is no common measure. For, as Gregory explains inhis Commentary on Ecclesiastes,the soul is imprisoned within its own limitations, in accordance with its condition in space and time

;

Thus how can our mind, which always operates on a dimensional image, comprehend a nature that . And though the mind in its restlessness ranges through all that is knowable,

has no dimensionl . .

it

of comprehending might place itself out-

has never yet discovered a way

eternity in such wise that it side of it, and go beyond the idea of eternity itself and that Being which is above all being.l1e

INTRODUCTION

FROM GLORY TO GLORY

42

Again we see the soul's incapacity; it lacks a"way of comprehending"; and this, as we have already seen in our discussion of darkness, is characteristic of the created intellect completely overpowered in the presence of transcendent Being. But the image of vertigo is not merely for Gregory a speculative consideration, but is rather the expression of a concrete experience. It occurs twice in his works. The first passage is, once again, from the Commentary on Ecclesiastes: Imagine a sheer, steep crag, of reddish appearance below, extending into eternity; on top there is this ridge which looks down over a projecting rim into a bottomless chasm. Now imagine what a person would probably experience if he put his foot on the edge of this ridge which overlooks the chasm and and found no solid footing nor anything to hold on to. This is what I think the soul experiences when it goes beyond its footing in material things, in its quest for that which has no dimension and which exists for all eternity. For here there is nothing it can take hold of, neither place nor time, neither measure nor anything else; it does not allow our minds to approach. And thus the soul, slipping at every point from what cannot be grasped, becomes dizzy and perplexed and returns once again to

what is connatural to

it.12o

A similar

image occurs in the sixth sermon from the Commentary on the Beatitudes. Here again is the cliff projecting over an abyss:

Along the

you may often see mountains facing the sea, sheer and steep from top to bottom, sea-coast

43

while a proiection at the top forms a cliff oversomeone suddenly hanging the depths. Now looked down from such a clif{ to the depths below he would become dizzy. So too is my soul seized with dizziness now as it is raised on high by this great saying of the Lord, Blessed are the clean ol But no tnan heart, lor tltey sltall see God. says the any titne, great hath seen God at fohn. . .. This then is the steep and sheer rock that Moses taught us was inaccessibie, so that our minds can

if

.

approach it. For every possibility of apprehension is excluded by the words: No man can see the Lord and liue.r2r

in no way

The reference to Exodus 33.20722 gives us a clue to the interpretation of the passage. The image of vertigo is used to express man's anguish as he realizes ltis inability to endure the overpowering presence of the Godhead. And just as the symbol of vertigo expressed the soul's anguish before the infinite majesty of God, the notion of Eros denotes the surge of love which sweePs thc soul out of itself in proportion to its awareness of God's infinite loveliness. It should be noted here that Gregory's notion of Eros has nothing in common with the Platonic concept of love-an unfortunate confusion of which Anders Nygren is guilty in his chapter on Gregory in his book, Eros and Agape.t" Rather must it be explained in terms of ecstasy and "inebriation," as we have explained them: as God's adorable presence becomes more and more intense, the soul is, as it were, forced to go out of itself by a kind of infatuation, and to withdraw from its usual mode of existence, to be swept along the ways of God. Eros, then, is not a longing for possession in a self-centered

I--ROM GLORY TO GLORY

INTRODUCTION

way, but a truly ecstatic love. As Gregory explicitly tells us, Eros here is simply the Agape of the Gospels in its most intense form.

supra-rational attraction which draws the soul irresistibly towards God by a kind of "passionless passion."t'u We have here again another paradox. But what is most important here is that Eros expresses the experience of the soul as the infinite beauty of God becomes more and more present to it. The more the soul is aware of this beauty, the more it sees that it is inaccessible. And it then realizes that it attains this beauty more by desire than by actual possession, just as it comprehends it rather by darkness than in the light.

44

The bride then puts the veil from her eyes and with pure vision sees the ineffable beauty of her Spouse. And thus she is wounded by a spiritual and fiery

dart of desire (Eros). For love (Agape) that

is

strained to intensity is called desire (Eros).124

It is clear then that Gregory uses the word because he feels that the passionate aspect of Eros is a more suggestive symbol for the passivity of the soul as it is overpowered by the revelation of the infinite beauty of God. In this way, toor Gregory iustifies the use of nuptial imagery in the Canticle of Canticles to symbolize the love of God:

In order to have us understand its profoundest doctrine, the Scriptures use as a symbol that which is the most violent of all our pieasurable inclinations, I mean the passion of love. Thus we are meant to understand that the soul that contemplates the inaccessible beauty of the divine nature falls in love with it in much the same way as the body is attracted towards things that are connatural with it. But here the entire disturbance of the soul has been transformed into impassibility, all carnal passion is extinguished in us and the soul burns with love by the sole flame of the Spirit.125

Thus that irrational Eros, which violently draws bodies together by a physical attraction, becomes here a symbol of that

The soul, having gone out at the word of her Beloved, looks for Him but does not find Him. ' . . In this way she is, in a certain sense, wounded and beaten because of the frustration of what she desires, now that she thinks that her yearning for the Other cannot be fulfilled or satisfied. But the veil of her grief is removed when she learns that the true satisfaction of her desire consists in constantly going on in her quest and never ceasing in her ascent, seeing that every fulfilment of her desire continually generates a further desire for the Transcendent. Thus the veil of her despair is torn away and the bride realizes that she will always discover more and more of the incomprehensible and unhoped for beauty of her Spouse throughout all eternity. Then she is torn by an even more urgent she communicates to her Belonging, and loved the dispositions of her heart. For she has received within her God's special dart' she has been wounded in the heart by the point of faith, she has been n-rortally wounded by the arrow of love'l2?

45

46

Thus the ecstatic nature of Eros in Gregory becomes clear. Once again, the doctrine touches the very summit of the spiritual life, where the soul, in discovering more and more of God, more fully realizes His transcendence. But this discovery, far from making the soul despair, is actually an experience of God's fuller presence. It becomes a yearning which fills the soul more fully than any actual possession, in the same way that darkness was a truer knowledge than light. It is, again, the expression of a lively faith which the love of God excites in the soul, bringing about the indwelling of the Trinity with the experience of God's infinite beauty. We should add, however, that it removes any Pretensions the soul may have to a union with God wherein God would be subordinate; rather it displaces the soul and forces it to center itself on God in an act of total dispossession. It is here that we touch at the heart of Gregory's mystical theology in the doctrine of ecstatic love. And it is this that distinguishes his doctrine from the more intellectualistic approach of those great contemplative writers, Origen and Evagrius. In Gregory, "knowledge becomes love."t'8

5.

PROGRESS

I

FROM GLORY TO GLORY

IN

SANCTITY

In our discussion of the last text we left out a most important concept, to which we must now at last return: the soul's perpetual progress in sanctity. Ecstasy, which is ultimately the experience of God's presence, is not, for Gregory, a phenomenon urhich recurs in the same way each time; rather, it involves a process of infinite growth. Though God never ceases to remain the Darkness, the soul advances farther and farther into this Darkness. Nothing indeed could show

NTRODUCTI ON

47

more clearly the positive character of this experience. In any case, we have here what is Gregory's most characteristic doctrine: perfection considered as perpetual progress. We find

it

developed especially

inhis Life of Moses.

Gregory's notion of perfection implies a positive idea of the process of change which is a most important contribution to the Christian theology of man. For the Platonist, change is a defect; and the intelligible world is superior to the world of the senses insofar as it is immutable. Even the Christian Platonism of Origen cannot avoid this difficulty. Change is always thought of as a degeneration from a state of initial perfection; and the transformation wrought by Christ has for its sole purpose to destroy change and restore immutability. But change, after all, is essential to man's nature; it is that which distinguishes him from God. The logical consequence of tliis point of view is clear, and Gregory shrewdly saw it.

If

change is essential to the human condition, and change is

essentially degeneration, then it follows that the possibility of clegeneration must be essential to man' and that good can never be secure. In this case the activity of God would be a

continual restoration of man to his primitive immortality, and man would constantly tend to fall from it. Such a movement would be a continual back-and-forth, a continual falling and rising and beginning over again. "The soul," he writes, "is always unstable, wherever it is; and there is as it were a cycle in which the same things tend to recur."tt' Now to overcome this difficulty Gregory had to destroy the equation: good:immutabilit|, and evil:change. And consequently he had to show the possibility of a type of change which would not merely be a return to immobility-that is, to the mere negation of change. Here then is the revolution

INTRODUCTION already filled I Why does the sea continue to re-

FROM GLORY TO GLORY

48

in thought which Gregory accomplished. He begins by agree' ing with Origen that change is essential to created being:

of water without being increased by the additionl ... Rising up in the northern ceive this stream

part of the earth, the sun proceeds to the south, and then going underneath, it moves in the opposite

Our nature is essentially changeable. For whatever has received its internal principle by the process of change must necessarily be mutable. Now the passage from non-being to being is indeed a type of change, wherein the insubstantial is transformed into substance by the Power of God.13o

And again:

direction until northern side

it

comes

up again under the

of the earth; revolving about

con-

stantly in this way it rolls through the same course, and after its revolution it comes back again. /l turns in its circuit, says Ecclesiastes.ls2

it is with the cycle of human generation. It is, indeed, the life cycle as such. Now the man who is immersed in the life of the body is So too

Everyone is aware that all beings that are subiect to change never remain identical with themselves, but are constantly moving from one state to another by a perpetual change which is either for good or for ill. . . . Now to be subject to change is, ir, ,.rrr., constantly to be born again.131

"

But Gregory's contribution consists of the idea that this change can take place in one of two directions, and that the two sorts of motions are different. As for the inferior sort of change, it is cyclic, repetitious, a kind of marking time. It is characteristic of the biological world, and, so far as mere movement is concerned, reduces us to the animal level. This is the sort of change we find in

aware only of this cyclic motion:

The pleasure of drinking ceases when one's thirst is quenched; and similarly in eating, satiety extinguishes our appetite. So every desire ceases with the possession of its object, and if it comes again, it also goes away again.133

A man who is addicted to the satisfaction of his

desires is like

the Hebrews who, while they were prisoners of the Egyptians (a 6gure of the devil), were forced into brick-making: Those who yearn after these pleasures of clay, and

nature:

themselves, can never keep the receptacle for these pleasures full; though it is always being filled it always keeps emptying again before

keep

for the waters which flow the inflow never is the purpose What stops, the sea grows no larger. of this passage of water constantly filling what is

The

49

sea is the receptacle

into it from all sides, and though

filling

the next pouring. Thus it is just like the brick mason who throws more and more clay into his

FROM GLORY TO GLORY mouid as it keeps constantly emptying. Now I think that you will easily understand this symbol if you consider the appetitive power of the soul. For as soon as a man satisfies his desire by obtaining what he wants, he starts to desire something else and finds himself empty again; and if he satisfies his desire with this, he becomes emPty once again and ready for another. And this never stoPs until we depart from this material world.13a

INTR

Like the animals who labor and sweat in a mill with their eyes blindfolded, we go about the mill of life always going through the same motions and always coming back to the same place again. I mean that round of hunger, satiety, going to bed, getting up, emptying ourselves and filling ourselves follows the other, and we -one thing constantly never stop going round in circles until we get out of the mill.135 We may note that Gregory uses the same words for the cycle of desire as he does for the periodic motion of the sea ever filling and emptying. Man is captive within the prison of the cosmos.

A final characteristic of this movement is its insubstantial, illusory quality. It is motion without Progress; and for this Gregory uses the image of sand: men's interests in the things of this life are like castles children build in sand. The enioyment is

All

DUCTI ON

5r

limited merely to the effort one puts into building them. And as soon as you stop, the sand collapses and leaves not a trace of the work you put in.136

Still more clearly in another

passage:

It is like men who try to climb

through sand. It

big strides or not; they waste their effort. For their feet constantiy slip to the bottom with the sand, and so, despite all their energy, they make no progress does not matter whether they take

$

$

Again, man is locked in the prison of a perpetual cycle, and Gregory compares him with the beasts who turn a mill-stone:

O

t

whatsoever.l3T

We thus arrive at the paradox that what the Platonists call motion is, in reality, immobility; for the energy expended leaves the object exactly as it was and involves no spiritual change.

Now the second, and higher, type of movement is summarized by Gregory in a most unusual passage: For man does not merely have an inclination to evil; were this so, it would be impossible for him to grow in good, if his nature possessed only an inclination towards the contrary. But in truth the finest aspect of our mutability is the possibility of growth in good; and this capacity for improvement transforms the soul, as it changes) more and more into the divine. And so . . . what appears so terrifying (I mean the mutability of our nature) can really be a pinion in our flight towards higher things, and indeed it would be a hardship if we were not susceptible of the sort of change which is towards the better. One ought not then to be dis-

52

FROM GLORY TO GLORY

INTRODUCTION

tressed when one considers this tendency in our nature; rather let us change in such a way that we may constantly evolve towards what is better, being translormed frorn glory to glory, and thus always improving and ever becoming more perfect by

acquired is merely the beginning of a new acquisition. In this way, the notion of change, which is essential to the human

daily growth, and never arriving at any limit of perfection. For that perfection consists in our never stopping in our growth in good, never circumscrib-

53

condition, can take on a wholly positive aspect. By a reversal of values, the constant change of the physical world was seen as a real immobility; so too here, permanence in good becomes, paradoxically, the principle of authentic change. He says:

ing our perfection by any limitation.rss

We should note some of the expressions used in this text. First of all there is man's anxiety and distress in the face of change. It may be said that this is characteristic of every natural religion: it is an anxiety that is associated with a purely negative concept of change, change that can only be for evil. But as Gregory so often reminds us, there is a higher type of motion, a "good changer" a "change for the better";l3e and it is this sort of movement that St. Paul means when he speaks of our transformation 't'rom glory to glory (z Cor. :.r8); it is the perpetual growth in good. It is thus a mistake to imagine perfection as a state of complete immobility in restored innocence. Perfection is progress itself: the perfect man is the one who continually makes progress. And this cannot have a limit. The "pinion" or wing refers to the transformation into Spirit (pneuma),into the Dove; and the wing becomes a new principle of activity and not merely a negative thing, not merely the cessation of all evil change. In other words, and here is the solution to our problem, once the good has been won and the soul has been transformed into the Dove, it is no longer a question of protecting this possession against the threat of a change or a fall; rather, the good once

Here we have a very great paradox: motion and stability are the same. For usually speaking, one who is rising is not standing still, and the man who is standing still is not rising. But here he arises precisely because he is stationary. This means that a man advances farther on the path of perfection precisely insofar as he remains fixed and immovable in good. . . . It is like men who try to climb through sand. It does not matter whether they take big strides or not; they waste their effort. For their feet constantly slip to the bottom with the sand, and so despite all their energy, they make no progress whatsoever. But if, in the words of the Psalmist, a man drags his feet from the mire of the pit and sets them firmly upon the rock, . . . the more steadfast and unshakable he becomes in good, so much the more quickly will he accomplish his course. His very stability becomes as a wing in his flight towards heaven; his heart becomes winged because of his stability

in

good.1ao

We have thus reached the most important intuition of all of Gregory's mystical theology. The wings of the Dove refer to the participation in the divine life; they are the entire posi-

INTRODUCTION

FROM GLORY TO GLORY

54

tive aspect of all the forces that have transformed the soul. But these wings only help it to rise ever higher and higher, because the heavens to which it soars are an infinite abyss. God becomes ever more intimate and ever more distant: more

intimate as the Dove, more distant as the Darkness, known by the smallest child and yet unknown to the greatest mystic. For the soul possesses God and yet still seeks Him: it is at once changeable and unchanging:

Now here is a very strange paradox. All wells hold stili water; only in the bride is there said to be running water. She has the depth of a well together with the constant flow of a river.lal

Indeed, this dual aspect is essential to the human condition. It is man that is to be transformed into Spirit, and it is essential to man that this transformation be a constant becoming. This, then, is the meaning of the image of God in man, which indicates at once the process of divinization as well as the distinction that exists between God and man. Thus

it

can be shown that man must necessarily be changeable insofar as he is but an imitation of the divine nature. For an imitation would be identical rvith its model if it did not exist in a difierent way. So here the precise difference betrveen the image and its archetype is that the archetype is immutable and the image is not, but is essentially changeable, as we have said. Now change is motion which con-

stantly progresses from one state to another. But there are two kinds of motion: the one, which is always towards the good, never ceases in its prog-

ress, because there is no

55

limit to its possible trans'

formation.la2

And this is a direct consequence of the divine transcendence. However much the soul may be transformed into the Dove and participate in God, God remains ever beyond, and the soul must constantly move forward: The divine nature . . . is utterly immune to any participation in evil and thus Possesses the good without limit. . . . When therefore it draws human nature to participate in its perfection, because of the divine transcendence it must always be superior to our nature in the same degree. The soul grows by its constant participation in that which transcends it; and yet the perfection in which the soul shares remains ever the same, and is always discovered by the soul to be transcendent to the same degree.laa

then why it was that Moses, though he had seen God face to face, asked God to show Himself still more: We can

see

Indeed He would not have shown Himself to His servant if the vision would have been such as to terminate Moses' desire; for the true vision of God consists rather in this, that the soul that looks up to God never ceases to desire Him. . . . The man who thinks that God can be known does not really have life; for he has been falsely diverted from true Being to something devised by his own imagination. For true Being is true Life, and cannot be known by us. If then this life-giving nature transcends knowledge, what our minds attain in this

56

FROM GLORY TO GLORY case is surely not life. . . . Thus it is that Moses' desire is filled by the very fact that it remains unfulfilled. . . . And this is the reai meaning of seeing God: never to have this desire satisfied.laa

These passages, then, bring us to the very heart of Gregory's thought. As we have seen, the Darkness is not merely a negative thing, not merely the negation of all knowledge of God. Indeed, He is truly known insofar as the soul participates in Him. To know God "in the mirror of the soul" and to know Him in the Darkness are not two different experiences, but two aspects of the same phenomenbn. This awareness of God always falls short of the divine reality, and hence it is always oriented towards a more and more perfect knowledge. Mystical knowledge is thus always a mixture of knowledge and ignorance, possession and quest, immanence and Transcendence-it is a "luminous Darkness." This imperfect awareness is the only authentic knowledge of God, inasmuch as it retains within the finite area of knowledge the infinite realm of ignorance.

6. cnrconv's

DoCTRINE oF PERpETUAL pRocREss

(Errcrasrs)

Thus far we have seen how change can be an essential constituent of the created spirit by the rigorous affirmation of the principles of participation and transcendence. For the Platonist, on the other hand, change can only be deterioration; for the spiritual and the divine are identical, and the divine is unchangeable. But once we establish the transcendence of the divine with respect to the created spirit, another sort of change becomes possible, the movement of perpetual

INTRODUCTION

57

This movement tends towards the Immovable, and under this aspect it is at the opposite pole to the meaningless motion of the material world: it is a process of unification and concentration. But the ultimate unity and stability are

ascent.

never achieved; the soul is conceived as a spiritual universe in eternal expansion towards the infinite Darkness. To describe this perpetual growth of the soul Gregory uses the

Greek term epectasis ("tensionr" "expansion"):

All

heavy bodies that receive a downward motion

. are rapidly carried downwards of themselves, provided that any surface on which they are moving is graded and sloping, and that they meet no obstacle to interrupt their motion. So too, the soul moves in the opposite direction, lightly and swiftly moving upwards once it is released from sensuous and earthly attachments, soaring from the world below up towards the heavens. And if nothing comes from above to intercept its flight, seeing that it is of the nature of Goodness to attract those who raise their eyes towards it, the soul keeps rising ever higher and higher, stretching with its desire for heavenly things ro those that are before, as the Apostle tells us, and thus it will always continue to soar ever higher. For because of what it has already attained, the soul does not wish to abandon the heights that lie beyond it. And thus the soul moves ceaselessly upwards, always reviving its tension for its onward flight by means of the progress it has already realized. Indeed, it is only spiritual activity that nourishes its force by exercise; it does not slacken its tension by action but rather increases

it. This is the reason why we

say that the great

58

INTRODUCTION

FROM GLORY TO GLORY Moses, moving ever forwards,

did not stop in his

vine Goodness, and they will always enjoy a greater in grace throughout all

upward climb. He set no limit to his rise to the stars. But once l're had put his foot upon the ladder on which the Lord had leaned, as Jacob tells us, he constantly kept moving to the next step; and he continued to go ever higher because he always found another step that lay beyond the highest one that he had reached.ras

We may note here the use of the word epecta.rzs, which Gregory has borrowed from St. Paul (Phil. 3.13). It is an especially apt word to express the soul's constant motion forward, as it constantly forgets what is past, continually open to new graces. The term is thus explained by Gregory: The great Apostle told the Corinthians of the wonderful visions he enjoyed during the time of his mystical initiation in Paradise . . . and he testifies: I do not count myseff to haue apprehended. But forgetting the things that are behind, I stretch mysefi lorth to those that are before. And clearly this is meant to include even that third heauen which Paul alone saw; for even Moses told us nothing of it in his cosmogony. Yet even after listening in secret to the mysteries of heaven, Paul does not let the graces he has obtained become the limit of his desire, but he continues to go on and on, never ceasing his ascent. Thus he teaches us, I think, that in our constant participation in the blessed nature of the Good, the graces that we receive at every

59

and greater participation eternity.146

It

is clear that the Greek word epectasis is very suitable to

of the soul's progress. On the one hand, there is a certain contact with God, a real participation, a divinization (Greek epi: "at" or "towards"). The soul is, in a true sense, transformed into the divine; it truly participates in the Spirit, the pneuma. But God at the same time express the double aspect

remains constantly beyond, and the soul must always go out of itself (Greek eft: "out of")-or, rather, it must continually go beyond the stage it has reached to make a further discovery. Thus Gregory says of Abraham: Relying on what he had already found he stretched himself forth to the things that were before. . . . And as he disposed all these things in his heart, he kept constantly transcending what he had grasped by his own power, for this was far inferior to what he sought.laT

Thus each stage is important: it is, as Gregory says, a "glory"; but the brilliance of each stage is always being obscured by the new "glory" that is constantly rising. So too the sun of the new creation, the New Testament, obscures the brightness

point are indeed great, but the path that lies beyond

of that first sun, the Old Law. And the laws of the soul's growth are parallel with those of man's collective history. And yet this is by no means to depreciate the value of each

our immediate grasp is in6nite. This will constantly happen to those who thus share in the di-

particular stage-all are good, all are stages of perfection. But the mistake would be to try to hold on to any one of them, to

6o

FROM GLORY TO GLORY

put a stop to the movement of the soul. For sin is ultimately a refusal to grow.

Gregory has also expressed this idea in his symbol of the of garments:

succession

After removing her old tunic and divesting herself of all further clothing, fthe spouse of the Canticle] became much purer than she was. And yet, in comparison with this newly acquired purity, she does not seem to have removed her headcovering. Even after that complete stripping of herself she still 6nds something further to remove. So it is with our ascent towards God: each stage that we reach always

reveals something heavy weighing on the soul. Thus

in

comparison with her new found purity, that very stripping of her tunic now becomes a kind of garment which those who find her must once again

remove.las

The soul was indeed stripped; but this very nakedness becomes a kind of covering in comparison with the ever greater purity which is growing within it. The soul could not have known this before ; it had every reason to think it was completely stripped; it could not then have known the possibility of a greater purity. It would seem, then, that human nature is, as it were, made up of a series of spheres or layers of reality, each one inside the other. The successive removal of the "tunics" or the outer layers allows a gradual penetration into man's interior life. And all these successive deaths and resurrections bring the soul in intimate contact with God Who dwells at its center, though ever inaccessible; the spheres or levels of intensity are

INTITODUCTION

6r

infinite, and thus perfection consists in this perpetual penetration into the interior, a perpetual discovery of God. This is essentially what Gregory is describing. Men always have the tendency to stabilize, to fix, the various stages of perfection which they have attained, and to see in the timeprocess a threat to their very transitory moments of happiness.

They want to recover their past ecstasies, to go, like Marcel Proust, in search of Time Past. For Gregory, on the contrary, the future is always better than the past. But to overcome this natural tendency of the soul, Gregory ofiers the support of faith, which is an adherence to a promise. Here we have the transition from poetry to prophecy, from the anthropology of the Platonists to that of the Bible. Paradise-and creationis yet to come. We must no longer try to recall it, but to hope for its accomplishment. And thus forgetfulness, a sin to the Platonist, here becomes a virtue. We must leave the known to go towards the unknown, to go out, as Rainer Maria Rilke would say, into the Open. This is indeed the journey of Abraham, ventured during the Night. As fean Hering has written: "The model of the Christian is not the princess who has come down from heaven and longs to return; it is Abraham that starts on his way towards an unknown country which God will point out to him." But a difficulty still arises: is not this progress rather a state of sufiering, if indeed the soul is never to find consolation I Gregory does take this objection into account, as he discusses on various occasions the despair of the soul and its constant disappointment at seeing itself deprived of what it is seeking. He speaks thus of Moses,tnn and, in another passage, of the bride of the Canticle of Canticles:

FROM GLORY TO GLORY

INTRODUCTION

The soul, having gone out at the word of her Beloved, looks for Him but does not find Him. She calls on Him, though FIe cannot be reached by any verbal symbol, and she is told by the watchmen (the angels) that she is in love with the unattainable, and that the object of her longing cannot be apprehended. In this way she is, in a certain sense, wounded and beaten because of the frustration of

crease in size and strength, in such wise that the participant, nourished in this way, never stops growing and keeps getting larger and larger. Indeed, as the Source of good keeps flowing and welling up without end, so too the participant, as it becomes larger, grows more and more in desire, by the fact that nothing that it receivcs is lost or left unused, and everything that flows in produces an increase in capacity. Thus the two are functions of each other:

6z

what she desires, now that she thinks that her yearning for the Other cannot be fulfilled or satisfied. But the veil of her grief is removed when she learns that the true satisfaction of her desire consists in constantly going on with her quest and never ceasing in her ascent, seeing that every fulfilment of her desire continually generates a further desire for the Transcendent. Thus the veil of despair is torn away and the bride realizes that she will always discover more and more of the incomprehensible and unhoped for beauty of her Spouse throughout all eternity. Then she is torn by an even more urgent longing.lso

The important point to note in this text is that the soul's desire is at each moment fulfilled. The soul is a potency; and this potency is fulfilled by its participation in God, and in this way it attains some perfection, some completion, as we have pointed out earlier. But this participation expands the soul further and makes it capable of a still higher degree of participation: Participation in the divine good is such that, where occurs, it makes the participant ever greater and more spacious than before, bringing to it an in-

it

63

the potency that is nourished grows by the reception of the good, and the nourishing Sorrrce keeps over-

flowing

as

thc increased store of goods becomes ever

greater. It is clear, then, how large it can become, since there is no limit to stop its growth.151

The expressions used here are very much like those one would use of ordinary nourishment. Bodily nourishment, however, would, for Gregory, come under the heading of "cyclic motion;" it is like the brick-mason's mould that fills up and empties again, and its capacity never increases; there is simply a constant passing through. Spiritual nourishment, on the other hand, increases the capacity of the soul that receives it;15? all of it can be assimilated, and nothing iost. Hence in the spiritual order the soul can grow PerPetually; ahvays filled to capacity, it can always receive more. In this way, then, perpetual growth implies no sense of dissatisfaction. As Charles du Bos, in an essay on Wordsworth,lo3 has defined the spiritual, it is "the presence of more where there had been no awareness of less." This is the essence of the gratuitous gift, the gift of pure liberality, that it creates where there had been nothing. And it is true of the gift as well as

64

FROM GLORY TO GLORY

INTRODUCTION

the recipient: grace endlessly creates ever new eyes to look uPon ever new suns. Thus Gregory, in commenting on the text of the Canticle, Thy eyes are of tltose of doues (Cant. r.r4), explains:

limits. Spiritual substances are further divided as follows: first there is the uncreated substance, itself the Creator of all things, that remains eternally what it is. Remaining ever unchangeable, it transcends all addition or diminution; it cannot receive any further perfection. The other class of spiritual substance has been brought into being by creation; thus it constantly looks towards the first Cause, and is preserved in existence by a continual participation in transcendent Being. Thus, in a certain sense, it is constantly being created, ever changing for the better in its growth in perfection; along these lines no limit can be envisaged, nor can irs progressive growth in perfection be limited by any term. In this way, its present state of perfection, no matter how great and perfect it may be, is merely the beginning of a greater and superior stage. Thus

Thus the beauty of the bride's eyes is praised because of the image of the Dove which appears in her pupils. For we receive within ourselves a likeness of whatever we look upon. Norv the man who no longer looks toward flesh and blood, gazes rather on the life of the spirit; as the Aposrle says, he lives and walks in the spirit, and by killing the deeds of the flesh by means of the spirit, he becomes neither natural nor carnal but wholly spiritual. This is the reason why the Bridegroom praises the soul that has been freed of all carnal passions by saying that the image of the Dove is in its eyes; for this means that the impression of the spiritual life shines within the clarity of the soul. And when the puri6ed eye of the sou! has received the impression of the Dove, it turns to contemplate the Bridegroom's beauty. For no man can say ,he Lord lesus, but by the Holy Ghost.rsa

Now this idea of the appearance of being where there had been nothing corresponds precisely with the Biblical notion of creation (fttisis); it designates an absolute beginning, that which is totally new. Gregory uses rhis terminology, too, in this connection: What is spiritual and immaterial . . . is free of all such determinations, it evades all terms and has no

65

the words of the Apostle are verified: the stretching

forth to the things that are belore involves the forgetting of what has already been attained.l5d Thus each stage of spiritual growth is the development of a reality that is entirely new, and hence can be compared with the first creation: Now the voice of the Word is ever a voice of power. At the creation, light shone forth at His command, and again at His order, the firmament arose. . So too now, when the Word calls a soul that has advanced to come unto Him, it is immediately empowered at His command and becomes what the Bridegroom wishes. It is transformed into something divine, and it is translormed lrom the glory

66

FROM GLORY TO GLORY

INTRODUCTION

in which it exists to a higher glory by a perfect kind of alteration.lsG

Thus Baptism, too, is a new creation, raised up by the Holy Spirit out of the baptismal water, just as the same Spirit had brought the first creation into being. Finally, every stage of spiritual growth is another creation accomplished by the Spirit. For God, as Paul wrote, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts (z Cor. 4.6). Thus Gregory further explains:

Thus every stage of growth in the soul is an absolute beginning; as he has said: [The created spiritual substance] is constantly being created, ever changing for the better by its growth in perfection. . . . In this way, its present state of perfection, no matter how great and perfect it may be, is merely the beginning of a greater and su-

You were buried with Me in Baptism unto death; /u, you rose again and ascendi in communion with my divinity. This is what is meant by the word Libanus. So rise up now from here and go on towards other peaks, advancing and ever rising by operative knowledge. . . . For no one can live with Me as My bride unless by the myrrh of death she is transformed into the incense of Libanus. Since you have reached this height, do not stop climbing as though you had already attained. This Libanus is the beginning of your faith, in which you shared by the resurrection, and it is the beginning of your progress towards the highest graces. From this beginning, then, which is faith, thou shalt pass and come: that is, you will now arrive and at the same time not cease to pass on perpetually by continuing to rise.159

perior stage. Thus the words of the Apostle are veri-

fied: the stretching forth to the things that are before involves the forgetting of what has already been attained.l5?

Thus the notion of epectasis as a perpetual creation sets Gregory's theology of man directly in the line of Biblical thought and the history of salvation. Indeed, it shows how the history of salvation is made up of a series of divine acts which are continually new achievements. The origin of the world was the first creation; the Resurrection of the Word is the new creation: There are two creations: the first, by which we were made, and the second one, by which we were redeemed. . . Because that old creation had been ruined and blotted out by sin, there had to be a new creation in Christ. . . . For this new creation Christ led the way, being called the first-born, for indeed FIe was the first-fruits of all men, of those who are begotten unto life, and those who, though dead,

were given life through His resurrection.ls8

67

This passage introduces us to another theme which is characteristic of Biblical theology: the notion of end as beginning, that is, that every perfection is a principle of a higher good.

We

see the Word, then, leading the bride up a rising staircase, as it were, up to the heights by the

68

FROM GLORY TO GLORY ascent of perfection. . . . He bids the bride

INTRODUCTION draw

near to the light and then to become beautiful by

in the light, into the form of

the her has enjoyed Dove. And then, even though she share of good things as far as was in her power,

being changed,

He nonetheless continues to draw her on to a Participation in transcendent Beauty as though she had not yet tasted of it. In this way her desire grows in proportion with her Progress to each new stage of development; and because of the transcendence of the graces which she finds ever beyond her, she always seems to be beginning anew. For this reason the Word says once again to His awakened bride Arise,' and, when she has come, Come' For he who is rising can always rise further; and for him who runs to the Lord the open field of the divine course is never exhausted. We must therefore constantly arouse ourselves and never stop drawing closer and closer in our course. For as often as He says Arise, and Come, He gives us the Power to rise

hope for. Similarly, though the bride is a dove because of her previous perfection, she is ordered to become a dove once more by way of being transformed into what is more perfect. And r'vhen she

has achieved this, the Word is even beyond that.161

will show her what

I need not emphasizehere the fundamental unity we find in all these texts in which Gregory develops in various ways the theme of transformation into the Dove. One might also consider the allusion to the Pauline notion of transformation front glory to glory (z Cor.3.r8). But I wish merely to stress the very important idea that every ending is but a beginning, and every arrival but a new departure. Everything seems as though it has always been known-and yet it is ever new.

This notion of a perpetual beginning, that is not merely a repetition but something always new and fresh, is one of Gregory's most germinal ideas.lu' I shall quote just one Passage:

and make progress.loo

Now the soul is not simply transformed into the Dove, but it is transformed "from Dove to Dove." For the Spirit accomplishes within the soul ever new creations in His image:

In bidding the bride to become beautiful even though she is beautiful, He reminds us of the words of the Apostle who bids the same image to be trans'

lormed from glory to glory (z Cor. 3.rB)- This means that though what we find and grasp is alu'ays glory, no matter how great or sublime it may be, we always believe it to be less than what rve

69

Thou, indeed, art the most High, abiding forever, and canst never seem smaller to those who approach Thee, for Thou art always to the same degree higher and loftier than the faculties of those who are rising to Thee. . . . Thus the new grace we may obtain is greater than what we had before, it does not put a limit on our final goal; rather, for those rvho are rising in perfection, the limit of the good that is attained becomes the beginning of the discovery of higher goods. Thus they never stoP rising,

moving from one beginning to the next, and the beginning of ever greater graces is never limited.l63

70

FROM GLORY TO GLORY

In this way Gregory answers the Origenist objection, which would suggest that change and motion are ultimately due to satiety and tedium. This difficulty would imply that the good can produce a certain weariness, and hence that a relapse and a fall from good are always possible. But Gregory shows us -and this, as E. von Ivanka has pointed out,l8a is one of his greatest contributions-that it is characteristic of this spiritual movement not to produce any satiety, precisely because it is a continual discovery of what is new. Here it is not a question of instability, but of growth. Only the flesh can know satiety; the Spirit never wearies: The soul that looks up towards God, and conceives that good desire for His eternal beautyr constantly experiences an ever new yearning for that which lies

ahead, and her desire is never given its full satisfaction. Hence she never ceases ,o stretch herself forth to those things that are before, ever leaving the stage in which she is to enter more deeply into the interior, into the stage which lies ahead.165

Such spiritual activity develops by being exercised. As Gregory explains,

A greedy appetite for food is terminated by satiety, and the pleasure of drinking ends when our thirst is quenched. And so it is with the other things. . . . But the possession of virtue, once it is solidly achieved, cannot be measured by time nor limited by satiety. Rather, to those who are its disciples it always appears as something ever new and fresh.166

Here again Gregory resumes the Biblical theme of the end as a beginning. It is, however, completely difierent from that

INTRODUCTI ON 7t of the Alpha-Omega, for it stresses the close articulation, the intimate sequence of the various stages in the process of growth. It applies, as well, to the history of salvation, in which each era marks an end. Thus Justin had shown how Noah marked the end of the ancient world and the beginning of the new one. Cyril of Jerusalem had seen in the Baptism of Christ, and in the |ordan itself, the boundary between the Old and the New Testament. Christ is essentially the End and the Beginning, destroying by His death the old world and inaugurating the new. Baptism, too, is an end and a beginning.tut So too, every stage in the spiritual life is an ever new beginning. And that which had seemed to be a limitation, each perfection, which is, at every point, precisely proportioned to the soul's capacity, becomes a new point of departure. Each peak we strive for fills our entire horizon, and, when we reach it, another rises up beyond. Such is the eternal process of man's discovery of the divine glory. And each stage is as nothing before the rest that still remains-"a drop of the night dew that dampens the locks of the Beloved."tut Indeed it is but a drop of dew in the ocean of infinite Darkness. Dove will give place to Dove, and Darkness to Darkness. There will always be the Dove and always the Darkdess, forever obscure and yet forever bright. Such is the spiritual message of Gregory of Nyssa.

NOTES TO THE INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION

: Lp;.tlc r 3. PG 46.ro49A. 3 I'c; 32.276A-8. a

PG

t9;z), :'Cf. c

l'G

22Episrle 23

facger, Gregorii N),sseni olrcra ascetica (cd. J. P. Cavernos).

46.;:5A:W. 256.q

iI.

Epistles

ro-rz, PG

YIll.r

(Leiden, Brill:

8Sce J. Dani6lor, "Aftoluthia chcz Grdgoire de Nysse," Reuuc de rcltgicrrscs, r9;j, zt9 lI.

Lilc ol

St. Maoina, PG +6.giSD-g76A=W. lrcger, op. Virginia \\'. Callahen).

loEpistle r9, PG 46.ro768-C. 11 In the sermon, Against Those Who Arc Inpatient in Suflering, PG +6.;o83r6. 12Epistlc r9, PG 46.ro76C. t3

[pi,tl.

PG 46.to76D-to77A. See also F. Diekamp, "Die Wahl Grcgors vrrn Nlssa zunr Metropoliten von Sebaste ," Theologische Quartalschrilt, tgo8, :8+

19,

{T.

1a

Epistle t9, PG 46.to77A-8. r; Gregory's Fouth Scrnron on Ealtel, PG +6.68r-68+. lt Serrnon on the Ascension, PG 46.689-693. 1i Sernton on the

Holy Spi'it,PG 46.696-7or. 13 Epistle to Peter, PG 45.47A.. [Gregory's rvork against Eunomius falls into four parts: thc 6rst work rvhich is our lrescnt book r; the second which is the second part of our present book rz; the third and longest section comprising books 3-r:a, and finally the critique of Eunomius'profcssion of faith, which is our present book z. F-or the best edition, see now W. Jaeger, Contra Eunontium (z vols. Berlin rgzr-zz); cf. B. Altaner, Patologie (z ed., Freiburg, Herder: r95o), pp. z6t-2, a.nd s€e our notes to the translation, n. 15, below.l le PG 46.544-553.

For example, the references to discussions on the Holy Spirit, the mention of the expected arrival of delegates from Egypt (:SEA). Again, Meletius of Antioch died during the Council, and it was Gregory who gave the funeral panegyric (PG a6.85z8-863A). Now the panegyric clearly refers to the discourse On His Ordination: cf. 85zC-853A. This is a decisive proof of its date. 21

The "Antidico-marianites" denied the perpetual virginity of the Virgin Mary. 72

above,

PG 45.rrz9D.

2':

Pc

27

PG 46.56oA.

28

Epistle t7, PG 46.to1? fr,

29See

46.553-576.

n. r8,

above.

Against Apollinaris, to Theophilus ol Alexandria, PG 45.1259-1277. See l. Liebaert, La doctrinc chrktologique dc Saint Cyrille d'llcrandrie auant la qaerellc nestoricnne (Paris r95r), p. r53. 30

37

On IIis Ordination, PG 46.544B. r, PG 46.roooD-roo4B. 33Tuo Rediscoacrcd Wotfts ol Ancient Christian litcratare: Grcgory and Iv!acarius (Leiden, Britl: r954), pp. t33-r42. 32See Epistle

34 Lile ol Moses,PG 44.3oo8, ed. f. Danidlou ry55), t.2, with the note. 35 On the Creation ol Man, PG q+.rl7A-C.

(Sources chr6tiennes,

36

Great Catechctical Discourse 5, PG 45.24P.

s7

On the Soul and Rcsarrcction, PG 46,148C-r49A.

r

ol

Nyssa

bis, Paris:

On thc Crcation of Man, PG 44.r84B. It is thus clear that Gregory's ultimate idea is based on the Biblical opposition between flcsh and spirit, sarx and pncuma, that is, between man vivified by the divine activity-which is in accord with his nature-and man deprivcd of it, in a state of misery. 38

3s

On the Crcation

ol Man, PG 44.r8aC-D.

40

Great Catechetical Discourse 6, PG 45,zBC-zgD,

a\

Ibid., PG 45.zgC.

a2See

20

n. 18,

25

sciences

cit., 386.22fr. (ed.

3, PG 46.ror6B-C.

Epistle 3, PG 46.rorGroz4.

24See

46.ro4oC-ro.15C.

.3:..1roB C, 5osA D.

?Fpistlc 6, PG 46.ro33A-ro36B.

e

73

E. von lvanka, Hcllenittischcs und Chistliches in friihbyzaxtinischen Zcitalter (Vienna r95z), p. roo.

See

t Set T. P. Migne, I'atrologit graeca (=PG) vol. 37.41P.-448.

J. Dani€lou, Origine

(Ptis tg48),

pp. 272fr,

a3

On the Dcad,PG 46.5zzD-524A.

14

lb;d., PG 46.5248.

45

Great Catechctical Discotrse g, PG qS.:58.

4s

lbid., PG 4536C-D. a7 On the Creation ol Man, PG 44.r88C. 48 Ibid., PG +q.r 8:A.

INTRODUCTION

FROM GLORY,TO GLORY

74 4s 50

lbid., PG 44.r89C-D.

72

On ,/tc Baptism

Ibid.,PG.44.r85B.

73

Against Tltose lVho Pwt Off Baptisnt, PG 46.42rA.

51 On the entire question, see Hans Urs von Balthasar, Pftsence ct Pcttsic (Paris r95z), pp. z5-2g, and J. Dani€lou, Platonisme et thiologie mystique (Paris tg4d, pp. 52-55. 52 Gregory always treats the Incarnation in terms of the Atonement, and I am not aware of a passage devoted exclusively to the Incarnation as such. It should be noted, however, that in the Treatise Against Apollinaris he shows that it was essential for the complete meaning of the Incarnation that the Word should have assumed an integral human nature.

53

Grca, Catcchetical Discourse 24, PG 45.64D-65A.

Ibid. 26, PG a5.68D. 55 This point was completely missed by fean Riviire in his work, Le dogme 5a

de la Rldemption: Endes critiques ct docilments (Paris parison literally. 56 57 58

5s

r93r); he

takes t}re com'

Great Catechetical Discoursc zz, PG 45.6oD.

lbid. ft, PG 45.528-c. lhid. 32, PG 45.8oA-B. lbid. t6, PG

On the Creation ol Man, PG 44.r85C. gTTreatise

Againa Apollinaris, PG 45.u53A; see also Against Eunomius z, PG +s.SqSC. 62Trcatise Against Apollinaris, PG 45.rz6oA-C. On Gregory's doctrine of the solidarity of all men in Christ, see Louis Malevez, "L'6glise dans le Christ," Recherchcs de scicnces religieuses (tS:S), pp, z6o-z8o; S. Gonzalez, "El realismo platonico de S. Gregorio de Nisa," Gregorianum (rSSq), pp. 189-2o6.

rr,

PG 45.88o8-C.

6a See

PG 46.577-6oo. 65 See PG 46.4t6-62; see also

.

Dani€lou, "Le mystlre du culte dans les hom6lies liturgiques du S. Gr6goire de Nysse," Festgabe Casel (tg5o), pp.25fr. 68 87

f

lb;d. 3s, Pc On

l.

Dani6lou, "Les repas de la Bible et lcur signification," La Maison-Dieu,

76 See

the Commentary on the Canticle of Canticles, PG 44.9894 and following.

77

PG 46.692A*8. 78 Comn. on the Cant., PG 4a.989C. See Selection 66 below. 7s

Great Catechetical Discottrse 37, PG 45.qP'-C,

80

Ignatius, Epistle to the Ephesians zo.z,

81

Irenaeus, Against the Heresies, 4.r8.5.

82

on

83

Cornm. on the Caflt., PG 44.rogzC-D.

84

For a fuller treatment, see J. Dani€lou, Platonisme et thlologie mystique

Christ's Resutcction, sermon

r,

PG 46.6rrC-D.

Comm. on the Cant., PG 44.roooC. See Selection 7o below. 86For a discussion, see Dani6lou, Platonisme et th6ologie nystique, pp. 38-rro.

87

45.89A'-8.

tie

Against Those Who Put Off Baptism, PG 46.4zoC-D; cf. also On the Baptism ol Christ, PG 46.6ooA-8. See Dani€lou, Sactamcntum Fnuti, pp. r3'zo.

ea

ol Christ,PG 46.6ooA-8.

On the Baptism

77

Against Thosc Who Put Off Baptism, PG 46.42oC.

Comm. on the Cant., PG 44.roooC. See Selection 7o below.

80 See

E. von Ivanka, "Vom Platonismus zur Theorie der Mystik," Schotastift

(rS:6), pp. r85f{., esp. rgz-r93. On the soul's knowledge of God as in mirror,

see Dani€lou, Platonisme

eo

a

et th|ologie mystique, pp. 221-274; A. Lieske,

"Die Theologie der Christusmystik Gregors von Nyssa," Zeitschrift Thcologie (r94o7, pp. rz-r6.

lir

ftatholischc

Comm. on the Cant., PG 44.8248-C, See Selection z9 below. Cf. also

Comm. on the Cant., PG 44.8zrA-8.

Lile ol

r955), e2

Moses,

PG 44877At ed. Dani€lou

ii. r63. See Selection

(Sources chritiennes

(z

Comm. on the Cant., PG 44.rq7C, See Selection 75 below.

ea

On the Lord's Prayer, PG 44.rt37A-P.

ffi

bis: Paris

f. Mar6chal, Essai sur la vols., Brussels-Paris t937-38), ii, pp. ro5-rrr.

es

ss On

r

15 below.

On the Soul and Rcsunection, PG 46.97A. Cf.

psychologie des mystiques

6s

7o

Cf. Erik Petcrson, "Zur Bedeutungsgeschichte von parrhlsia," Festschrilt ftil

Reinhold Seebcrg (1929).

e7

Great Catechetical Discourse :S, PG +S.888-D.

Baptism ol Christ, PG +6.S8gD, and see J. Dani6[ou, Sacramentam Futuri (Paris r95o), pp. t52-r76. 68

7s See

xviii, pp. 8 fi.

a5

45.52C.

Against Eunomius

I4lbid.,PG 46.42oC,. Sce also F. J. D6lger, "Der Durchzug durch das Rote Mecr als Sinnbild der christlichen 'laufe," Anti/1e and Christcntatn z (r93o), pp. 63 fi., esp. pp. 76-79.

(Paris r944).

60

63

ol

75

Christ, PG 46.592C-D.

thc Crcation ol thc World

(=In

Hetaemeron),PG 44.68P.

Life ol Gregory Thaumaturgus, PG 46.gt3C.

s7

On His Brother Basil, PG

46.8r2C.

s8

On thc Psalms 7, PG 44.457A.

ee

Mar6chal, op. cit., ii,

10o

INTRODUCTION

FROM GLORY TO GLORY

76

Lile ol

Moses,

r5 below.

p. trt.

PG 44a76C177Ai ed. Dani6lou, ii.t6z-rfu. Scc Sclcctior

r33

(rS:6),

p.

(W, Jaeger, Gregorii opcro

Against Eunomius

asceticd,

Ylll.r)

rz, PG 45.94oAj4rB.

735

liir

netdestancntliche

14issen-

See the Comm. on the Cant., PG 44.9898 and following (Selection 66 below), On Christ's Ascension, PG 46.6928-C, and elsewhere. Comm. on the Cant., PG 44.989C-D. See Selection 66 below.

111 See

774

Oz the Psalms 6, PG 44.5o9C; On Christ's Ascension, PG a6.693A. Comm. on tltc Cant,, PG ++.g8qD. See Selection 66 below.

Ps. 67.28, discussed by Gregory On the Psalms

in

t4,PG a,q.SlZB.

Comm. on the Cant., PG 44.989C (Selection 66 bclow); and cf. 99uA (Selection 67 below). t\6 lbid., PG 44.996A-D. See Selection 68 below. 717

lbid., PG 44.992C. See Selection 67 below. lbid., PG 44.993At. See Selection 67 below.

rre On Ecclesiaster, sermon 7,

PG 44,72gC. See Selection 17 below. azo lb;d., PG qq.TzgD-?zzA. See Selection r7 below. 72r On the Beatitadcs, sermon 6, PG 44.r264C.

And again he saiil: Thou cans, tot sce fiy face: lor man shall fiot sec mc and liac (Ex. 3j.zo). 123 Anders Nygren, Erot ct Agape: La notion chrltienne de I'amour et ses tanslormations (Paris r944): Eng. transl. by P. S. Watson (Philadelphia r953). 722

124

Comm. ofl the Cdnt., PG 44.ro48C. See Selection 76 below.

On Ecclesiastes, sermon

r,

PG 44.628C-D.

Lile ol Moses, PG. 44.4o5C-D; ed. Danidlou, ii.z44 (Selection zz below); cf. also Oz tltc Dctd, PG 46.5ooD-5olD. ritsOn Perlcction, PG (Selection z bclorv); see the edition by 46.2858-C W. faeger, op. cit., zr3.t4-2t4.6, 73s On the Psalms 3, PG 44.460B-C; ibid. a, PG 44.5ooB. 14o Lile ol hloses, PG 44.4o7C-D; ed. Danidlou, ii.z43-244. See Selection :z

below,

'4r Comm. on the Cant., PG 4a.g77C. See Selection 64 below, 7a2

On thc Psalms 14, PG qq.SlZB.

t15

7r8

45.57D.

137

108

113

1:r$

z8g.z7-z9o.rt.

See Selection 16 below,

108See Hans Lewy, Sobria ebrietas (Zeitsehrift schalt,Berheft 9, Giessen r9z9).

zr, PG

On Ecclesiastcr, sermon 3, PG a4.6a8D. L;le ol Moses,PC 44344A; ed. Dani6lou, ii.6o-6r. See Seletion 4 below. Funeral Oration 'for Placilla, PG q6.888D.

134

On Virginity, PG q636fi. See Selection rz below. Cf. the text by f.

r72

lbid., pG 44.r r3B.

L;le ol Moses, PG 44328A-B; ed. Daniilou, ii.z-3. 732 On Ecclesitstcr, sernon r, PG 44.624D-625A. See Selection 3 below,

356.

r7o

Ibid.,PG 44.to37C. See Selection 75 below. On thc Soul and Re.rurrection, PG a6.96D.

77

r31

See Selection 47 below.

105L Hausherr, "Ignorance in6nie," Orientalia christiana poiodica

701

lbid., PG 44.772A.

a27

lso Great Catec/reticsl Discotrrse

lbid., PG 44.roo4A. See Selection 7o below.

Cavarnos

126

12s

a$lbid., PG 44.8938.

76

Ibid., PG qa,.ZZsC-D.

a23

tol Comm. on the Cant., PG 44.892C-D. See Selection 47 below. t02lb;d., PG See Selection 47 below. 44.892C-893C. 704

125

a13

raa

zr

zr, PG 45.57D-6oA. Comm. ofi the Cant., PG 4a.873D-876A. See Selection 43 below.

Graat Catechctical Discourse

Lile ol Moscs, PG 44.4o4A-D; ed. Dani€lou, ii.zg3-235, 239.

See Selection

below.

\4s t+6

Ibid., PG 44.4ooD-4orB; ed. Dani€lou, ii.zz4-227. See Selection zr below. Comm. on the Cant., PG 44,94oD-g4rA. See Selection 5o below.

ra1

Against Eanomius

7a8

Comm. on the Cant., PG 44.roz9B-C. See Selection 75 below.

tz,

PG 45.94oD-94rD. See Selection

r6

below,

ras

Lile ol Moscs, PG 443gg{t ed. Dani€lou, ii.zzo. See Selection zr below. a5o Comm. on thc Cant., PG 44.ro378-C. See Selection 75 below. 151On the Soul and Rentrection, PG 46.ro5B-C.

rtzCf. On the Beatitades, sermon PG 4, 44.ru44A-rz48C. 153See r54

"Du spirituel dans I'ordre litt6raire," Vigile 3

G

Cahier, r93r), p. zoo.

Comm. on thc Cant., PG 44.833D-836A. See Selection 33 below. 1ss Ibid., PG 44.885D-888A. See Selection 46 below.

FROM GLORY TO GLORY

78 756

lbid., PG qq.gqSD-gq8A.

157

Cf. Comm. on the Cant., PG q+.88:D-888A and see note r55 above.

!58

Against Eunomius q,

Cant., PG 44.ro4gB-C, and a'e Comm. 760

See Selection 53 below.

PG qS.6S6D-fu7A; and cf. also the Comtn. on

the

ror6D-ror7A.

on ,he Caflt., PG qq.g++B-C. See Selection 5r below'

lbid., PG q+.876B-C.

Fnoff glon'y fo

See Selection 43 below.

a6a

Ibid., PG ++.826C-D. See Selection 43 below. 162 lbid., PG q+.88q8-C; cf. also 8928, 94tB-C, 997D. a8s

Comm. on the Cant., PG 44.94rB-C. See Selection 5o below.

a9a

Hcllenistisches und Christliches

im lrtihbyzdnt;rrischcn

Geistedeben (Vienna

rys"), pp- 4s-53. L65

Comm. on the Cant., PG 44.ro33D-ro36A. See Selection 75 below. 1ffi On thc Beatitudes, scrmon 4, PG 44.r244D-t245L' Cf. also the Comm. on the Caflt., PG 44.ro84C-D.

Futuri, pp. 6r-77.

16?

See Danidlou, Sacraffienturn

168

Comm. on the Cdat., PG 44.roo4A.

gLonry

TEXTS FROM

gp,€gop.a o+ Y)atsss's MYSTICAL WRITINGS

r48

GREGORY OF NYSSA

FROM GLORY TO

God: never to have this desire satisfied. But fixing our eyes on those things which help us to see, we must ever keep alive in us the desire to see more and more. And so no limit can be set to our progress towards God: first of all, because no limitation can be put upon the beautiful, and secondly because the increase in our desire for the beautiful cannot be stopped by any sense of satisfaction.

zz.

The Symbol of the

Rocle and the Sand

(The Life of Moses,

4o5A-D; ed. Danidloq tt.z4o-244) But what is this place that is said to be with God ? What is the meaning of the rock, and what is the hole in the rocfr? What is the meaning of the hand of the Lord that covers the mouth of tlte ltole in the rocft (Exod. 33.2r-zz) I And what is this passing of the Lord I And what is the meaning the bacft of the Lord, which He promised Moses he would see when Moses had asked to see His face I Each of these details must refer to something of deep importance and worthy of the bounty of the giver. For after all the visions that God's great servant had been given, this promise is believed to be of greater depth and magnificence. How are we to understand the meaning of this summit to which the text leads us ? For it is this which Moses, after so many ascents, longed to reach; and He, too, helps us to reach it by His guidance, Who makes all things uorft togetlter unto good to them that loue God (Rom. 8.zB). Be ltold, he says, there is a. place uith me (Exod.

B.2r). I think this idea quite fits all that we have already

seen.

When God speaks of a place, He does not mean a space that

GLORY

r4g

can be quantitatively measured-for we cannot measure any-

thing that does not have quantity-but rather by using the analogy of a measurable surface, He is guiding the reader to a reality which is infinite and without limit. Here then is something of the meaning of the text as I see it: Seeing that you have stretched forth to that which is before you with a great desfue, and you never experience complete satisfaction in your progress, nor are you aware of any limit to the good, as your yearning goes out to ever more and more-here is a place with me that is so vast that he who runs in it will never be able to reach the end of his course. And yet, from another point of view, this course has its stability; for God says: I' uill set thee on the rock (Exod. 34.22). But here we have a very great paradox: motion and stability are the same. For usually speaking, one who is rising is not standing still, and the man who is standing still is not rising. But here he arises precisely because he is stationary. This means that a man advances farther on the path of perfection precisely insofar as he remains fixed and immovable in good. It is impossible for a man to soar towards the heights of virtue if he tends to slip and fall in the ways of the spirit and is not firmly balanced in virtue, butis tossed to andfro, and carried about, as the Apostle tells us (Eph. a.ra), fluctuating and uncertain in his ideas of reality. It is like men who try to climb through sand. It does not matter whether they take big strides or not; they waste their effort. For their feet constantly slip to the bottom with the sand, and so, despite all their energy, they make no progress whatsoever. But if, in the words of the Psalmist (Ps. 39.3), a man drags his feet from the mire of the pit and sets them firmly upon the rock (and the rock is Christ, Who is all per-

t r5o

GREGORY OF NYSSA

fection), the more steadfast and unshakable he becomes in good, according to the counsel of Paul, so much the more quickly will he accomplish his course. His very stability becomes as a wing in his flight towards heaven; his heart becomes winged because of his stability in good.

4.

Following the Lord (The Lrf, of Moses,4o8B-4o9A; ed. Danidlo u, 1i.249-z 56)

Thus far has the soul now progressed, protected by the right hand of the Lord according to the promise of the text (Exod. 35.22).The hand of the Lord would refer to His creative power over all things. Indeed, the Only-Begotten, by Whom all things were made, is Himself the place for those who runl He is, acording to His own words, the very Way of the course, as well as the Rock for those who are well grounded, and the Mansion for those who take their rest. At this point the soul will hear His call and will take its place behind Him; it will follow the Lord God according to the precept of the Law (Deut.B.D. This is the call that the great David understood, when he said to him that duelleth in the aid of the most High (Ps. 9o.r) that he will ouershadow thee with his shoulders (Ps. go.+); for this is the same as following God, for the shoulders are at the back. Similarly he cries out, speaking of himself: My soul hath stucft close to thee: tlty right hand hath receiued me (Ps.62.9). You see how the psalms support our text. For David here says that God's right hand receives him who clings to Him; so too, in our text, the Lord's hand covers

I5I FROM GLORY TO GLORY Moses who awaits the divine call within the rock and asks

to follow Him. So too the Lord Who spoke this word to Moses, when He came to fulfil His own Law, discoursed in like fashion to His disciples, explaining clearly the meaning of what had been said before in mystery. If any ntan will ccme after me, He says (Luke g.4), and not: If any man will go before me. And when the man besought him about eternal life, he gave the same command, saying: Come, follow nr (Luke r8.r8' zz). And he who follows looks at the back. Moses sought to see God, and this is the instruction he receives on how he is to see Him: seeing God means following Him wherever He might lead. And God's passing refers to His leading of those who follow Him. Anyone who does not know the way cannot travel safely without following a guide. The guide shows him the way by walking ahead of him. And the one following will not get ofi the right Path if he keeps constantly watching the back of his guide. On the other hand, if he moves ofl to one side, or tries to bring himself face to face with his guide, he will be setting out on a difierent path from the one which his guide is showing him. Thus the Lord says to those who are being guided: You shall not see my face (Exod. 33.20), or, in other words: Do not face your guide. For then you will be going in a completely opposite direction. Good does not go in the opposite direction to good, but follows it. And that which is opposed to the good comes face to face with it. Evil looks in a difierent direction from virtue; but virtue does not come face to face with virtue. Hence Moses does not see God face to face, but merely looks at His back. Whoever would see Him face to face would not

GREGORY OF NYSSA

FROM GLORY TO GLORY

live, as the inspired word tells us: No man shall see the f.^ce of the Lord and liue (Exod.33.20). You see then how important it is to learn how to follow the Lord. For even after all those lofty ascents, those terrible and splendid visions, Moses, although he is practically at the end of his life,3'is hardly judged worthy of the grace, he who has learnt to walk behind iris Lord. But following God in this way he no longer encounters the obstacles of sin.

must make before I begin the mystical interpretation of the Canticle of Canticles. For in the sacred text we shall find the soul clothed, in a sense, in the garment of a bride to PrePare it for a pure and spiritual marriage with God that has nothing to do with the bocly. For He, W ho ruill haae all men to be saued, and to come to the ftnowledge of the truth (r Tim. 2.4), shows us in this book the most perfect and glorious Path of saivation, I ntean, by way of love. For some are saved by fear, as for example, when we break off from sin because we have our eyes on the threatened punishment of Hell. There are others, too who live lives of virtue because of the rewards promised to the good; antl these possess their goal not by charity but by their hope of reward. But he who runs in spirit to reach perfection, casts out fear. For it is the attitude of a slave, who does not stay with his master out of love and simply does not run away for fear he will be beaten. The truly virtuous man even clespises rewards, lest he give the impression that he esteems the gift more than the giver. He loves with his whole heart and soul and strength (Deut. 6.5) not the creatures that come from God but Him Who is the source of all good. And He Who calls us to share in Him commands that this disposition be in the souls of all of us who listen to Him.

r52

z4- Spiritual Love (Commentary on the Canticle, sermon r,

PG

44.764D-765C)aa

All of you, following the counsel of Paul, have

stripped

yourselves o{ the old man (CoI.3.9) like a soiled garment

with all his works and desires; and by the purity of your lives you have put on the snow-whire garmenrs of the Lord which He showed us at His Transfiguration on the mount. All of you, then, who have been transformed into something divine and sinless-it is to you that I speak of the mystery of the Canticle of Canticles. Come within His incorruptible bridal chamber, now that you have put on the white garment of pure and chaste thoughts. Some there may be who do not wear the garment of a clean conscience as befits the divine espousalsl they may be involved in their own thoughts, and rry to drag down the pure words of the Bride and Bridegroom to the level of irrational, animal pleasure, and thus become absorbed in shameful images. Such as these must be cast out of the community who joyfully participate in the marriage, and be assigned to the ueeping and gnashing of teeth instead of the happiness of the marriage chamber. This is the declaration I

r53

25. Mystical Marriage (ibid., 7-161t-777C)

In the art of painting the material of the different colors fills out the representation of the model. But anyone who looks at the picture that has been completed through the skilful use of color does not stoP with the mere contemplation of

r54

GREGORY OF NYSSA

the colors that have been painted on the tablet; rarher he looks at the form which the artist has created in color. So it is with the Scripture we are discussing. We must not as it were look merely at the material of the colors (in this case, the words),

but rather at the form of the King that the chaste conceprs of the mind have expressed in the words. Now the colors, as for example, white, yellow, black, red, blue, are in this case the words in their obvious meanings, as for example, mouth, kiss, myrrh, wine, parts o{ the body, bed, maidens, and the like. And the form that is expressed by these words is that state of integrity and blessedness, union with God, the banishment of all evil, and the assimilation of the truly good and beautrful. These notions bear witness that Solomon's great wisdom transcended all the limits of mortal wisdom. For what could be more paradoxical than that nature itself should purify its

own passions ? For in words that seem to suggest passion it offers us precepts and instruction in purity. For he does not say that we ought to be beyond all carnal passion, that we should mortify our members on earth, or thar our lips should not be sullied by sinful words; rather, he so manages our souls that we are made to look to chastity by means of words which seem to suggest the opposite, and through sensuous expressions he reveals a meaning which is incorruptible. But one thing at least the sacred text should teach us, by way of preamble, that those who are to be initiated into the secret mysteries of this book must no longer be mere men; rather they must be substantially transformed by Christ's word into something divine. And the Word bore witness to this when He told his disciples that they were now more than mere men, for they had been separated from men by that distinction which He Himself had proposed in their pres-

155 FROM GLORY TO GLORY ence: WIto do rnen say that I am? (Mark 8.27) But who do you say that I am? (Mark 8.29)

So too here the sacred text uses expressions the obvious meaning of which would suggest carnal passion; and yet it does not slip into any improper meaning, but rather uses such

words to instruct us by chaste concepts in the life that is divine. And in doing this it shows us that we are no longer to be men, with a nature composed of flesh and blood. Rather, it points to that life we hope to attain at the resurrection of the saints, a life like that of the angels, free from all concupiscence.sa

After the resurrection, when our bodies will be re-united to our souls, they will be incorruptible; and the carnal passions which disturb us now will not be present in those bodies; we shall enjoy a peaceful equilibrium in which the prudence of the fesh will not make war upon the soul; and there

will no longer be that internal warfare wherein sinful

passions fight against the lau of the mind, conquering the soul and taking it captive by sin. Our nature then will be purified of all these tendencies, and one spirit will be in both, I mean in the flesh and in the spirit, and every corporeal affection will be banished from our nature. In much the same way the Word in the Canticle bids us, even though we live in the flesh, not to turn our thoughts to it but to look merely to the spirit, and to turn all the expressions of love that we may find here as pure and immaculate oflerings to the good Lord Who surpasses

all understanding, in Whom alone is all that is For any enjoyment of Him only

sweet, lovely and desirable.

increases our desire for a greater share in His goodness. Such was Moses' love, such was Isaias', and such was fohn's when he called Him the bridegroom He that hath the bride is the

t ry6

GREGORY OF NYSSA

bridegroom: but the .t'riend of the bridegroom rejoiceth

with joy because of the bridegroom's uoice (|ohn 3.29). So too Peter, when asked whether he loved the Lorcl, answered with ali sincerityl. Thou ftnoarcst tltat I loae thee (lobn zr.r5). It was the same with the other Apostles. So it was with Paul, who first persecuted Christ and then loved Him, even though he had not seen Him, and wrote: I hque espoused you that I rnay Present you as a chaste uirgin to Christ (z Cor. n.z).

26. The Spiritual Scnses (ibid., 78oC-78rC) There is another lesson that we are incidentally taught by the deeper study of this book: it is that we have rwo sets of senses, one corporeal and the other spiritual, as the Word tells us in the book of Proverbs: Thou shalt find the sense of God." There is a correspondence between the motions and movements of the soul and the sense organs of the body, as we learn from the words of the Spirit given in our texr. Wine and milk, it is true, are distinguished by the raste; but the spiritual realities which they signify are grasped rarher by the intellectual power of the soul. A kiss is an operation of the sense of touch: in a kiss two pairs of lips touch. There is, however, a spiritual faculty of touch, which comes in contact rvith the Word, and this is actuared by a spiritual and immaterial sense of touch, as it is said Our hands haae handled of the uord of life Q fohn r.r). So too the smell of the divine perfumes does not proceed from the smell of our nostrils but from a spiritual faculty which draws in the sweet odor of Christ by an inhalation of the spirit. And this is the renor of the text of the maiden's prayer as we have it in the opening

FROM GLORY TO GLORY

r57

section: T/ty breasts are sueeter than wine and tlte odor of thy ointments aboae all ointmenls (Cant. tr-z). Here is reveaied a notion which is not at all insignificant, I think, nor to be despised. For in this comparison which shows how far superior is the milk we draw from the divine breast to the joy we derive from wine, we learn that all human wisdom or

the exercise of the imagination cannot at all be compared with the simple nourishment we derive from divine revelation. For milk comes from the breast and it is the food of infants. But wine is for the more perfect, because of the warmth and strength which it brings. And yet what is superior in the wisdom of the world is far inferior to the childlike instruction we receive from the divine word. Hence it is that the divine breasts are better than human wine, and the smell of the divine ointments is sweeter than all other perfumes. And the meaning of this seems to be as follows: by ointments we are to understand the virtues, as for example, wisdom, temperance, fortitude, prudence and the like; and if we anoint ourselves with these in accord with the choice and capacity of each one, we shall, each in his way, enjoy a good odor: one, the odor of temperance or wisdom; another, that of justice or fortitude, or of any other aspect of virtue; and still another might enjoy a good odor that would be compounded of all these ointments. And yet all of these could not be compared with that all perfect virtue which dwells in heaven according to the prophet Habacuc: His glory couered the heaaens (Hab. 3.3); for this is essential wisdom, essential justice, essential truth, and so on with all the rest. The odor of the heavenly ointments, says the text, offers an incomparable happiness in contrast with the ointments of this worlcl which we know.

r58 27. The Good

GREGORY OF NYSSA Shepherd (ibid., sermon

z, 8orA-D)

Where dost Thou pasture Thy sheep, O good Shepherd, Who carriest all Thy flock upon Thy shoulders? For the one lamb which Thou tookesi up is tir. entir. human race which Thou didst raise upon Thy shoulders. Show me then the place of pasture, make known to me the waters of rest, lead me out to the good grass, call me by name that I, Thy sheep, may listen to Thy voice, and may Thy call be the gift of eternal life. Shew me, O thou whom tny soul loaeth (Cant. r.6). This is the name I give Thee, for Thy name is aboue sJl names (Phil. 2.9) and is inexpressible and inaccessible to all rational creatures. But this name expresses Thy goodness, and the attitude of my soul towards Thee. How could I not love Thee, Who hast loved me so much, even though I am blacft (Cant. r.4), so as to lay down Thy life for the sheep whose Shepherd Thou artl There can be no greater loue than this,to lay down

Thy life for my salvation. Sltew me, then, she says, where thou feedesr (Cant. r.6), that I may find the pasture of salvation and be filled with the food of heaven which all men must eat if they would enter into life. And running to Thee, the source, I shall drink the draught Thou sendest forth for those who thirst; this water pours from Thy side ever since the spear laid open that vein; and whoever tastes of this sltaJl become a fountain springing up into life eterlasting (lohn 4tQ. If Thou dost shepherd me in this way, Thou wilt make me lie down in the midday (Cant. r.6), and then in peace at once I shall sleep and rest (Ps. +.q) in the light rhar knows no

FROM GLORY

To GLORY

ryg

shadow. There is no shadow at midday because the sun shines directly overhead. Then Thou wilt make them lie down, all those that thou feedest, when Thou wilt take Thy children

with Thee into Thy bed (Luke rr.7). And no one will be judged worthy of the midday rest unless he is a son of the day and of the light. But he who has left the dark of evening and the dark before dawn, that is, the beginning and the end of evil, he shall be made to lie down at midday by the Sun

of lustice (Mal. a.z). Show me, says the bride, how I must lie down, show me the path of the midday rest, lest I stray from Thy secure guidance and lest ignorance of the truth herd me into flocks that are different from Thine own. This is what the bride says in anxiety over her God-given beauty, asking to know how her loveliness may abide forever. Still, she is not yet thought worthy to hear the voice of the Bridegroom, for God has greater plans for her: He wants the beginning of her enjoyment to arouse a grcater yearning for Him, that her desire might give zest to her joy.

28. Know Thyself (lbld., Ao4lr-8o8B) Our greatest protection is self-knowledge, and to avoid the delusion that we are seeing ourselves when we are in reality looking at something else. This is what happens to those who do not scrutinize themselves. What they see is strength, beauty, reputation, political power, abundant wealth, pomp, self-importance, bodily stature, a certain grace of form or the like, and they think that this is what they are. Such persons make very poor guardians of themselves: because of their

t6o

absorption in something else, they overlook what is their own and leave it unguarded. How can a person protect what he does not know

I The

most secure protection for our treasure

is to know ourselves: each one must know himself as he is, and

distinguish himself from all that is not he, that he may not unconsciously be protecting something else instead of himself. Now anyone who has any regard for the life of this world or

thinks that worldly honor is worth protecting, does not know how to distinguish himself from what he is not. No passing thing is strictly ours. For how can we have dominion over that which is passing and transitory I Spiritual and immaterial beings are always the same; whereas matter passes, constantly changing in a kind of flux or movement. Hence it must follow that he who separates himself from what is stable will be carried along by that which is in fux. And in abandoning what is stable for that which is passing, he will lose both, for while he gives up the one, he is unable to keep up with the other. This is the reason why the friends of the Bridegroom offer this counsel: If thou frnouest not thyself , O 'fairest aTnong tuolnen, go f orth and follou after the steps of t/te flocfts and 'feed thy ftids beside the tents of the shepherds (Cant. r.7). And what does this mean ? It is that he who does not know himself strays from the fock of sheep and pastures with the goats, that have been placed on the left. The Good Shepherd puts the sheep on his right hand (Matth.t1,3Z), and separates the goats from this more perfect group and places them on his left. Thus we learn from the counsel offered by the friends of the Bridegroom that we must closely study the very nature of reality and aim at the truth with unfaltering stePs.

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But I must explain myself a little more clearly. A good many men do not draw their conclusions from the very nature of reality, but merely consider the way men have lived before them; and so they fall completely short of an accurate judgment about realit/, and they take, as rheir criterion of what is good, irrational custom instead of sober reason. Hence they force tlieir way into political office and power, they make a good deal of merely external show since they are unaware of the fact that all this will come to an end after this life. For custom is no sure guarantee for the future, for very often this may lead us to the goats and not to the fock of

sheep.

IMy meaning wili become clear if you will consider the words of the Gospel. If you consider that which is proper to man, that is, his reason, you will despise the force of cusrom as irrational, and you will never choose as good thar which brings no advantage to the soul. We must not then seriously consider the footprints of those who have gone before us like so many cattle leaving their trace upon the worlci. For what is best to choose is not clear from sense phenomenanor shall it be until we depart from this life; then we will know whom u'e have followed. The man then who merely follows in the tracks of those who have lived before, and takes the customs of this world as his guide in life, and does not distinguish goocl from evil on the basis of actual reality, very often makes a mistake, and in the day of that just Judgment he becomes a goat instead of a sheep. This, then, is what we can understand those friends as saying: Soul norv fair, though once you were black, if you are anxious that the charm of your beauty endure forever, do not wander ol{ in the footsteps of those who have precedecl

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you in this world. For this path that you see may be the path of the goats, which you are following because you cannot see those who have made the path.with their footprints. And when you have passed out of this life and have slipped into the fold of death, beware that you may not be put into the flock of the goats, because you ignorantly followed their foot-

prints during life. If thou frnou not thyself , O fairest among tuolnen, go f orth, and follow after the steps of the fl.ocfr,s, and leed thy frids beside the tents ol tlre shepherds (Cant. ry).It will be easier to understand this text if you would consider another version, in which the structure of the sentence does not seem so disconnected:36 If thou frnow not thyself, O fairest among ll,ornen, thou hast gone forth and followed after the steps of the fl.ocfrs and dost leed thy ftidsbefore the tents of the shepherds. Now the meaning of this version exactly fits the interpretation we have just proposed. The text then would be saying: Beware lest this happen to you. For this is the safest way to protect the good things you enjoy: by realizing how much your Creator has honored you above all other creatures. He did not make the heavens in His image, nor the moon, the sun, the beauty of the stars, nor anything else which you can see in the created universe. You alone are made in the likeness of that nature which surpasses all understanding; you alone are a similitude of eternal beauty, a receptacle of happiness, an image of the true Light; and if you look up to Him, you will become what He is, imitating Him Who shines within you, Whose glory is refected in your purity. Nothing in all creation can equal your grandeur. All the heavens can fit into the palm of God's hand; the earth and the sea are measured in the hollow of His hand (Is. 4o.n). And though He is so great that He can grasp all creation in His palm, you can

fi3 FROM GLORY TO GLORY wholly embrace Him; He dwells within you, nor is He cramped as He pervades your entire being,tt saying: I will dwell in them, and ualft arnong them (z Cor. 6.16). If you realize this you will not allow your eye to rest on anything of this world. Indeed, you will no longer marvel even at the heavens. For how can you admire the heavens, my son, when you see that you are more Permanent than they ? For the heavens pass away, but you will abide for all eternity with Him Who is forever. Do not admire, then, the vastness of the earth or the ocean that stretches out to infinity, for like a chariot and horses they have been given in your charge. You have these elements in your Power to be obedient to your will. For the earth ministers the necessities of life, and the sea oflers its back like a tame steed to its rider. lf , then, thou ftnouest thyself , O fairest atnong ll)ornen' you will despise the entire universe, and with your eye uPon that spiritual goal you will overlook the wandering footprints which you find in life. And so, be on your guard, and make no mistake about the flock of goats, and then you will not be marked out as a goat instead of a sheep on the day of fudgment, or excluded from a place at the right hand of the throne. Rather, you will hear that sweet voice that speaks to all the humble and wool-bearing sheep: Come, ye blessed of my Father, Possess you the ftingdorn pre4ared for yoa from the foundation of the arcrld (Matth. 25.3il.

29. TheOdor of Spikenard (ibid.,sermon 3,824A-825C)oa There are many difierent perfumes, not all equally fragrant, from which a certain harmonious and artistic blend produces a very special kind of unguent called spikenard, taking

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its name from one of the fragrant herbs that are compounded in it. It is the result of many difierent perfumes coalescing into a single fragrance; and this is the sweet scent which the Bridegroom perceives with pure senses. In this text I think that the Word teaches us that by His very nature He transcencls the entire order and structure

of the created uniHe is inaccessible, intangible, and incomprehensible. But in His stead we have this perfume within us distilled from the perfection of our virtues; and this imitates in its purity His essential incorruptibility, in its goodness His goodness, in its immortality His immortality, in its stability His immutability, and in all the virtues we possess we reFresent His true virtue, which as the prophet Habacuc says, covers all the heavens (Hab. 3.3). And so when the bride says to the friends of the Bridegroom, My spiftenard sent forth the odor of ltim (Cant. r.rr), this is the profound lesson I think she is teaching us. It is tliat even though one may gather from all the different meadows of virtue every perfume and every flower of fragrance, and should make his whole life fragrant with the good odor of all these virtuous actions, and become perfect in this way, even then he would not be able to look steadily upon the Word of God, no more than he could the sun. But he can look upon this Sun within himself as in a mirror. For the all perfect virtue of God sends forth rays of sinlessness to illuminate the lives of those who are pure; and these rays make the invisible visible, and allow us to comprehend the inaccessible by impressing an image of the Sun upon the mirror of our souls. Now as far as our interpretation goes, it is much the same thing to speak of the sun's rays, or the emanations of virtue, or the fragrance of perfume. For no matter which verse, that

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of these analogies we use for the purpose of our discourse, the underlying idea is one and the same: that it is through our virtues that we derive a knowledge of the Good that surpasses all understanding, in the same way that we may infer the beauty of an archetype from its image. So too Paul is a bride, who imitated the virtues of his Bridegroom and took as a model for his life that eternal Beauty; he compounded his spikenard from the fruits of the spirit, from c harity , joy , peace , and all the others (Gal. 5.zz) , saying he was the good odor of Christ (zCor. z.I5). He inhaled the fragrance of that inaccessible and transcendent grace, offering himself to others as a kind of incense for them to partake of according to their ability, and he became a fragrance which, according to each one's disposition, could bring them life

or bring them death. The same perfume will have different effects on the pigeon and the scarab: inhaling the fragrance makes the pigeon stronger, whereas the scarab dies. Similarly, that great sacrificial incense of God, St. Paul, was in this respect like the dove; and Titus, Silvanus and Timothy all shared with Paul in the fragrance of the perfume, advancing in every sort of virtue with his example before them. But those like Demas, Alexander, and Hermogenesto could not stand the incense of continence, and like the scarab were banished by its fragrant smell. This was the reason why Paul, who was so fragrant with these perfumes, said: We are tlte good odor ol Christ in tlrem tltat are saued, and in tltem that perish (z Cor.2.ry). Now it is possible that there is a connection between the bride's spikenarrl and thc spikenarcl mentioned in the Gospels. If so, we may, if we wish, conclude from what we have

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right spiftenard, that was so precious (Mark r4.3; John rz.3), and filled the house with its odor when it was poured on the Lord's head. This perhaps was no different from the bride's spikenard which sent forth the odor of the Bridegroom; in the Gospel it is poured upon the Lord and fills the house, where the dinner was being held, with a sweet fragrance. Here I think that the woman, by a kind of divine inspiration, was foreshadowing in the spikenard the mystery of His death. And thus the Lord testifies to what she has done when He says: She is corne beforehand to bury me (Mark r4.8; Matth. z6.rz). And He teaches us that the house filled with the fragrance stands for the whole world, the entire universe, when He says: Wheresoeaer this gospel shall be preached in the whole arcrld, the fragrance of her deed will be diffused with the preaching of the Gospel, and the Gospel, He says, will be a memory of her (Matth. said to the nature of that

26.ry). Thus in the Canticle, the spikenard brings to the bride the sweet odor of her Bridegroom. In the Gospel, however, the perfume that fills the house becomes the good odor of Christ and the fragrance of the whole body of the Church, in all the world and in the entire universe. I think that in this way a connection may be discovered between the two passages, such that each would seem to be saying the same thing.

3o. The Bundle of Myrrh (ibid., Sz5D-8288)m

It is said that vain women

take great care over external ornaments so that those around them may take notice of them; and also that they use scent to make their persons more

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attractive to their husbands. And so they will take a perfume that is suitable for this purpose and hide it in a fold of their dress, so that while it gives ofl its particular odor it may lend the body some of the fragrance of its perfume. Now against the background of this custom, what is the noble and courageous bride saying in the textl She is saying: I have a sachet which hangs down upon my breast, and with it I give my body a sweet fragrance. But it is not an ordinary perfume ; the Lord Himself is the fragrant oil lying within the sachet

of my conscience, dwelling within my heart. Scholars tell us that the heart is situated in the center of the breast. Now here is where the bride tells us that she has her bundle of myrch; this is the spot where her treasure is stored. They also tell us that the heart is the source of all warmth, and that the heat from it is diflused through all the body by means of the arteries, and that in this way the Parts of the body become warm and living, heated by the fire of the heart.'l The bride, then, receiving the sweet odor of Christ in the highest part of her soul, makes her heart a sachet, as it were, of this incense; she thus makes every single action of her life, like so many parts of the body, burn fervently with the breath that issues from her heart, so that the love of God may never be chilled in any part of her by disobedience.

3r. The Birth of the Word (ibid., 8z8B-829C) A cluster of cyryress my loue is to me, says the bride, in the aineyards of Engaddi (Cant. r.r3). Is this not a blessed gift, indeed a gift surpassing all happiness, that one can see the

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very Master of the vineyard by looking at the fruit upon his own clusterl See how much the bride has grown: she has seen the sweet odor of the Bridegroom in her own perfume, and her fragrance has become sweet because of Him; she encompasses this perfume in the sachet of her heart, that her treasure might stay constantly with her and never be dissipated; she now becomes the mother of the divine cluster of grapes that bloomed, that is, flourishednt before the Passion, and during the Passion poured out its wine. For after the divine drama of the Passion the wine that cheers the heart (Ps. ro3.r5) is rightly called the blood of the grape. A cluster of grapes gives us pleasure in two ways. First of all by its blossom, which charms the senses with its fragrance; and secondly by its fruit, which we can pluck when it is ripe and eat to our heart's content, or when it is made into wine, enjoy it at a banquet. Now in our text (Cant. r.r3), the bride asks the flowering cluster to bear fruit, calling the vine-

the smell rather than the taste with expectations for the future ; it gives pleasure to the senses of our soul by its fragrance of hope. For a firm and unshakable faith in a favor we hope for becomes a present joy to those who look forward to their future expectations with patience. And so the cluster of cypress is a cluster that gives promise of wine. Though not yet made into wine, it offers by its blossom a guarantee of future grace; for the blossom is hope. The addition of the name Engaddi suggests a fertile spot, where the vine can strike root and put forth fine, sweet fruit. Students of geographv tell us that the land of Engadcli is most suitable for the cultivation of the vine. Hence the man whose rvill is in harmony with God's law, meclitating on it all night and clay (Ps. r.z), becomcs as a flourishing tree fecl by streams of water (Ps. r.3), rendering fruit in due season (Matth. zr.4t). For this reason the Briclegroom's vine is planted in Engaddi, in a fertile place, that is, in the depths of the soul. And watered and matured by the divine doctrine, it has brought forth that flowering, blossoming cluster, in which the soul can see its husbandman and vine-dresser. It is a blessed viticulture whose fruit takes on the beauty of the Bridegroom! For He is true light (lohn r.9), true life (fohn 14.6) and true justice, as the book of Wisdom tells us, and all the rest. And hence whenever a man by a good life takes on His qualities, if he looks at the cluster of his own conscience, he will see the Bridegroom in it, sending forth a blossom which is the light of truth from His own luminous and incorruptible life. Thus the flourishing vine says: Mine is the cluster that blossoms with flowers. He indeecl is the true grape cluster Who showed Himself to us on a wooden

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blossom cypress.tt

Now fesus, who is born as a child for us, advances in wisdom and age and grace (Luke z.5z) in difierent ways in the hearts of those who receive Him. He is not the same in everyone, but only according to the measure of those in Whom He dwells, adapting Himself to the capacity of each one who receives Him: to some He comes as a Babe, to others as one advancing, to others in full maturity, according to the nature of the cluster. And hence He is never seen on the vine in the same form, but He changes His appearance with the course of time, now budding, now in full bloom, now mature, now fully ripe. Thus the vine with its fruit holds up expecrations; though not ripe enough for wine and still awaiting maturiry, it is not completely devoid of pleasure and delight. It charms

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cross, Whose Blood

is a draught of salvation to those that

drink it with joy.

32. The Mirror of the Soul (ibid.,sermon 4, 83zD-gl:C)nn Man's nature adapts itself to the direction of reason, and it is susceptible of whatever form it is inclined to by the movement of free will. Under the passion of anger, it becomes angry; when overwhelmed by concupiscence, it is dissolved in pleasure. And so whatever inclination there may be towards cowardice or fear or any of the other passions, our human nature similarly receives the forms of each of them. Contrariwise, if it takes unto itself the virtue of fortitude, purity, peace, resistance to anger or grief, courage, imperturbability, and the like, lulling itself into a state of tranquility it impresses the form of each of these virtues upon the structure of the soul. Now virtue and vice are directly opposed; hence they cannot both be present together at the same time. If one rejects temperance, he must necessarily fall into a life of in-

continence; one who despises impurity, by his very withdrawal from sin establishes himself in chastity. And so it is with all the other virtues. The humble man has put ofl arrogance ; the vain and pompous man has rejected humility. Thus we need not discuss each instance in detail. For it is clear that with things that are essentially contradictory the absence of the one implies the establishment in existence of the other. It is thus of the very nature of our free will to be able to take on the form of whatever it desires. And so rightly does the Word say to the soul that has been made beautiful

r7r

(Cant. r.r4): You have drawn nearer to me by your rejection of any contact with sin. By coming closer to the inaccessible Beauty you have yourself become beautiful, and like a mirror, as it were, you have taken on my aPPearance. Indeed, human nature is very much like a mirror in its ability to change in accordance with the different impressions of its free will. When you put gold in front of a mirror, the mirror takes on the appearance of the gold and because of the refection it shines with the same gleam as the real sub' stance. So too, if it catches the refection of something loathsome, it imitates this ugliness by means of a likeness, as for example of a frog, a toad, a millepede, or anything else that is disgusting to look at, thus reproducing in its own substance whatever is placed in front of it. So it is that the soul that has been purified by the Word and has put ofl all sin, receives within itself the circular form of the Sun and shines now with this reflected light. Hence the Word says to her: You have become fair because you have come near to my light, and by this closeness to me you have attracted this participation in beauty.

y.

The Eyes of the Doue (ibid., $3C-836C)

Thy eyes, He says, are as those of doues (Cant. r.r4). Earlier when the bride was compared with a steed, she was praised for her cheeks and her neck (Cant. r.8-9). Now, when her beauty appears in its own right, she is praised for

the charm of her eyes; and the praise consists in saying that they are the eyes of a dove. This, I think, suggests the following meaning. When the pupils of one's eyes are clear you can

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in them the faces of those who look into them. Now those who are expert in the study of natural phenomena say that, in seeing, the eye functions by receiving the impression of certain images which flow frorn the visible object. Thus the beauty of the bride's eyes is praised because of the image of the Dove which appears in her pupils. For we receive within ourselves a likeness of whatever we look upon. Now the man who no longer looks toward fesh and blood, gazes rather on the life of the spirit; as the Apostle says (Gal. 5.16), he lives and walks in the spirit, and by killing the deeds of the flesh by means of the spirit, he becomes neither natural nor carnal but whoily spiritual. This is the reason why the Bridegroom praises the soul that has been freed of all carnal passion by saying that the image of the Dove is in its eyes; for this means that the impression of the spiritual life shines within the clarity of the soul. And when the purified eye of the soul has received the impression of the Dove, it turns to contemplate the Bridegroom's beauty. So too in our text the maiden first gazes at the llridegroom's beauy when she has the Dove in her eyes. For no man can say tlte Lord lesus, but by the Holy Ghost (r Cor. rz.3). And she says: Behold thou art't'air, my beloued, and comely (Cant. r.r5). Indeed, ever since I have felt that nothing else was beautiful, ever since I turned away from everything I used to think good, my judgment of the beautiful has never gone so astray as to think that anything could be beautiful alongside of Thee, whether it be the praise of men, reputation, reknown, worldly power. For those who look only to the senses these things have indeed a surface appearance of beauty; but they are not what they seem. For how can a thing be beautiful if it is not completely stable I The

things that are held in honor in this world only have their existence in the minds of those who think they exist. But Thou art truly beautiful; no, not merely beautiful, Thou dost subsist for all eternity in the very essence of Beauty, remaining forever what Thou art. Thou dost not merely blossom for a time, and then in time shed the blossom. Thou dost extend Thy beauty over the entire eternity of Thine existence. This is Thy love for man.

see

34. The Lily

oJ

173

the Valley (ibid., t4oC-8arB)

I am the flouer of the field, and the lily of the aalleys (Cant. z.r). By what we have already seen, the soul has indced been cultivated upon the broad surface of human existence. For in hearing the word field, we understand the breadth of man's nature, because of its ability to comprehend so many, such limitless thoughts, words, and doctrines. Thus the soul that has been cultivated in this way by the husbandman of our human nature grows up like a bright, pure and fragrant flower upon the feld of our human existence. Compared to the iife of heaven this field may be called a valley; but it is, nonetheless, a field, and there is nothing to prevent the soul that has been rightly tended from growing into a flower. And just as in the case of the lily, the shoot rises up from the hollow to the very heights. The lily usually shoots straight up from its root like a reed, developing a flower at tlle top; and there is a good distance between the flower and the ground, for the reason, I think, that its beauty might remain pure up above and not be defiled by contact with earth. I'he bricle, tlren, either has become this flower, or longs to

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become one. Either meaning is possible from the text: either

although they have strength only at night, and remain power-

she is glorying in the fact that she has become what she wanted to be, or else she is asking the Husbandman for the grace to become a fower, that she may shoot up, by His wisdom, from the valleys of human existence into the beauty of the lily. In either case, whether or not she has already attained her desire, the righteous eye of the Bridegroom gazes upon His bride and on her good desires as she looks up at Him. He grants her desire to become a lily, not choked by the

in the light of the sun. After the sun goes down and night comes on, the beasts rise up out of their dens into the night, as the Prophet tells us (Ps. ro3.zo). Now the solitary wild boar, that has been bred in the woods, has laid waste the fair vine of human nature, as the Prophet says: The boar out of the uood hath laid it uaste: and a singular wild beast hath

thorns of life, which He here calls daughters (Cant. z.z), by this, I think, the evil forces in man's life, whose parent is the originator of all wickedness. suggesting

35. The Fruit of the Apple Tree (ibid.,84rC-84aB) The soul has now become a fower and has not been hurt by the thorns of temptation in her rransformation into a lily. She now forgets her people and the home of her father and mother, and looks towards her true Father. Thus she is called the sister of the Lord (Cant. 4.9), being brought into this relationship by tlte spirit of adoption (Rom. 8.r5), and removed from any contact with that pretended father. She then rises higher and higher again and gazes upon the mystery with the eyes of the Dove, that is, with the spirit of prophecy. And this is what she says: As the apple tree among the trees of the woods, so is my beloued among tlte sons (Cant. 2.3). What is this vision which she sees ? Holy Scripture is accustomed to use the word a.,oods with reference to man's material existence: it becomes overgrown with all sorts of passions, and dangerous wild beasts make it their lair and hiding-place,

less

deuoured

tt

(Ps.

7g.rd.

This is why the apple tree grows in the woods, and being of wood, it is similar to man's nature, tested in all things like ourselves uithout sin (Heb.4.15). But because this tree bears fruit to charm the senses of the soul, there is a greater difference between the apple tree and the woods than there is between the lily and the thorns. The lily gives pleasure to sight and to smell; but the charm of the apple tree is harmoniously proportioned to three senses: it gives pleasure to the eye by its beauty, to the sense of smell by its fragrance, but also to the sense of taste by its nourishment. The bride then rightly recognizes the difference between herself and her Lord. As Light, He is an object of beauty for our eyes; He is a sweet odor for our sense of smell; and Life for those who partake of Him. He that eatetl, Him, as the Gospel says, shall liue (lohn 6.58). Our human nature, matured by virtue, becomes a fower-but it does not offer nourishment to the Husbandman but simply adorns itself. For He has no need of our goods, but rather we have need of His, as the Prophet says: For thou has no need of my goods (Ps. r8.z).

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36. TheMysticWinepress (ibid., t45 A-C)

37. The Order of Charity (ibid., 84sc-8a88)

Next she says: Bring me into the cellar of wine, set charity in order uithin me. Stay ftte up with perfumes, cottpass ffie

I think a familiar doctrine is being taught us here, namely, the charity we should have towards God and the charity

I am wounded with

we should show towards each other. Everything should have its correct and proper order; much more so should there be a right order in the matter of love. Cain was not condemned

ry6

about wrth apples,for

loue (Cant.2.4-S).nt

Her thirst has so greatly increased that she is not satisfied with the cup of wisdom; her thirst is not quenched even though a whole cup is poured into her mouth, but she asks to be brought into the very wine cellar, and have her mouth held right beneath the vats bubbling over with sweet wine. She asks to see the cluster crushed in the vats, to see the vine that produced the cluster and the Husbandman of the true uine Who made the cluster so sweet and nourishing. It would be superfluous for me to explain all this, for the spiritual meaning of each detail is manifest. Surely the mystery which the bride wants to see is how the Bridegroom's garments become red by treading the winepress, as the Prophet says: Why is thy apparel red, and thy garments lifte tlteirs tltat tread the tuinepress? (Is.63.2). This, then, is the meaning of her desire: she wants to enter the house where the mystery of the wine is enacted. But when she has entered, she leaps straightway to higher tlrings. She desires to be subject to charity. And God is cltarity, as |ohn tells us (r fohn 4.8); to be subject to Him, as David reveals to us, is the soul's salvation (Ps.6r.z). Since I have come, she says, into the cellar of tuine, subject me to love, set charity in order witltin me; whrchever way you put it, the meaning is the same, whether she is subject to charity or charity is ordered in her.

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(Gen. 4.5) because he had wrongly divided his ofTerings, if only he had observed the proper order in addition to making the right offerings, keeping what he needed for himself, and consecrating the rest to God. He should have offered to God a sacrifice of the firstlings of his flocks; instead he filled himself with what was the more valuable and oI{ered the remainder to God. We must then be aware of the order of love which the Law teaches us, that is, how we are to love God, our neighbor, our wives, our enemies; and our fulfillment of the law of charity must never be inverted or contrary to goocl order. We should love God with our whole heart and soul and strcngth and with all our serlses, and our neighbor as ourselves. If we are men of pure souls, we are to love our wives as Christ loued the Church (Ephes. S.zS); but if we are subject to passion, we should love them as our oun bodies (Ephes. 5.28). This is the command of Paul, who has set up the order in this matter. We are to love our enemies by not returning evil for evil, but by requiting injury with kindness. But as it is we see in most people a confused and disordered charity, totally lacking in harmony and orderly direction. Some so love money and honor and (if they feel so inclined) women, with theii whole soul and strength, that they would

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willing to give up their lives for them. Their love for God is only so much show;ou and for their neighbor they barely show the love which they owe to their enemies. And on those who hate them their habit is to infict more pain on them than they themselves have suffered. And so she says: Set charity in order u.,ithin me that I may offer God what is His due and strike the right proportion in my relationships with all else. And we perhaps may also understand the text to mean: Though I was at first beloved, by disobedience I was reckoned with the hated; but now once again I have been restored to favor and united by love to my Bridegroom. Confirm in me the stability and permanence of this grace, you who are the friends of the Bridegroom; and by your care and concern preseffe for me permanently that inclination I have towards constant improvement.

her, and she glories in the wound: I am u.,ounded uith loue. Indeed it is a good wound and a sweet pain by which life penetrates the soul; for by the tearing of the arrow she opens, as it were, a door, an entrance into herself. For no sooner does she receive the dart of love than the image of archery is transformed into a scene of nuptial joy. We all know how a bow is handled, and how each hand is usefully employed. The left hand grasps the wood; the

even be

38. The Wound of Loue (ibid., 85zL-Ss:A) The bride says; Because I am uounded uith loue.nT Here she explains the dart that has gone right through her heart, and the Bowman is Love. From the Scriptures we learn that God is loue (r John 4.8), and also that He sends forth His only begotten Son as His chosen arroru (Is. 49.2) to the elect, dipping the triple point at its tip in the Spirit of life. The arrow's tip is faith, and it unites to the Bowman whomsoever it strikes. As the Lord has said: 1 and the Father are one (lohn ro.3o), and ue uill come, and will mafte our abode ruith him (|ohn ry.4). As the soul then is raised up by these divine elevations, she sees within herself the sweet dart of love that has wounded

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right hand draws back the bowstring, pulling the arrow back at the same time by holding on to the notched end, and thus aiming it at the target by means of the left hand. In the previous text the bride had been the arrow's target; now she sees herself as the arrow itself in the hands of the Archer, held on the one side by His right hand and on the other by

His left.n8 But the images in which the doctrine is contained are developed, according to the context, along the lines of a marriage allegory. Hence the text does not say that the pointed end of the arrow is held by the left hand and the rest by the right, as though the soul were a dart in the hands of a powerful archer aimed at the heavenly goal. Rather, it says that His left hand is supporting not the arrow-point but her head, and the rest he holds in His right hand. And the reason for this is, I think, that the Word by using two kinds of symbols wishes to teach us the same lesson with regard to our ascent towards God. The Bridegroom and our Archer are the same. And the bride and the arrow is the purified soul which he takes and aims at a good target. Thus does He allow the bride to share in His eternal incorruptibility: with His right hand He gives her the grace of years and a long life; with His left he dispenses the wealth of eternal riches and the glory of God, in which those who seek the

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FROM GLORY TO GLORY

glory of the world cannot share. This is why she says: His left hand is under my head (Cant. 2.6), for this is the way He aims the arrow towards the mark. With His right hand He takes and draws me back and makes my journey to heaven an easy one, and I am sped thither on my way even though I do not leave the Archer; I am carried on my fight and yet I rest in the arms of my Master. For these are the qualities of His hands, as Proverbs tells us: in Wisdom's right hand is length of days and years of life, and in her left hand riches and glory (Prov.3.16).

Now the soul in our text, is rising rapidly to such heights as we have previously seen, and she is leading other souls along the way of perfection who are still in a state of instruction. But granting now the two functions of an oath, she is not using the oath to guarantee to her listeners the indubitable truth of her own progress. Rather, as she leads them on to a life of virtue she is adjuring them under oath to keep their love sleepless and vigilant until His good will should come to its term. And this is for all men to be saued and to come to a ftnoruledge of tlte truth (r Tim. 2.4). Now the oath we mentioned took place on the thigh of

r8o

39. The Diuine Oath (ibid., B53A-857A) An oath is a form of speech that bears its own guarantee of truth. It can have two functions: it is either a guarantee of truth for those who receive it, or else it forces those who are under oath not to tell a lie . Thus in the verse T he Lord hath stuorn truth to Dauid, and h.e uill not mafte it aoid (Ps. 13r.rr), the security of the promise is confirmed by the oath. Abraham, concerned that his son might make a noble marriage, ordered his servant not to take as a wife for his son any woman of the race of Canaan; for he did not want the nobility of his line to be contaminated by intermingling with a race of slaves. And so he ordered the servant to prepare a marriage for his son with a woman frorn his own land and kin. And he forced the servant not to neglect this charge by making him take an oath that in whatever orders he gave, he would execute in Abraham's interest whatever he decided for his son. And thus Abraham's servant was bound under oath to arrange a suitable marriage for Isaac.ne

I8I

the patriarch. So too, here it is by the potuers and dominions of the field.Thus the text has: / adiure you, O ye daughters of lerusalem, by the pouers and dominions of the field, that you stir not up, nor ntafte my loue to awafte until he please (Cant. 2.7).oo F{ere first of all we must consider what the feld is; and then the meaning of "power" and "dominionr" and whether there is any difference between them or whether the same thing is meant in each case. Next we must consider what is the meaning of the stirring and awakening of the beloved. The phrase , until he please, has already been explained by

what has been said.

It will

be obvious to everyone that in the Gospel the voice of the Master refers to the world as the field. The form of this world shall pass away, and there is nothing permanent in its unstable nature, as is clear from the mighty voice of Ecclesiastes, who counts all passing phenomena among the things that are vain. What then is the power of this field, the world, and what is its dominion, to which the bride ap, peals in order to bind the daughters of |erusalem to an inviolable command I

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Now we cannot look for this power in the sense phenomena, for Ecclesiastes would contradict any such notion; for him anything that we might look for and find in this world is aanity. What is vain is unstable ; and what is essentially unstable cannot have any power. But there might perhaps be a clue to the meaning of the passage in the fact that the word "power" is used in the plural. We are familiar with the distinction that occurs in words of this sort from holy Scripture. When for example the word "power" ocurs in the singular, it usually refers to the divine power; but when it is used in the plural it refers to the angels. Take, for example, Christ the pouer of God, and the uisdom of God (r Cor. r.z4), where the use of the singular designates the Godhead. Whereas in the verse Praise ye the Lord, all his powers (Ps. 48:b), the use of the plural makes it clear that the reference is to the spiritual substance of the angels. Now the addition in our text of the word dominion, simply emphasizes the same idea. The Scriptures are accustomed to use synonomous expressions in order to stress an idea more strongly, as, for example, in O Lord, my strength and my frrnarnent (Ps. ry.vz). Here the same idea is expressed in both phrases, but the use of the two synonomous expressions suggests the emphasis that is intended in the thought. So too in our text, the use of the plural word"powers" and the equivalent term "dominions" would seem to suggest the angelic nature to the minds of the audience. And so the oath is laid upon those who are still making progress for the confirmation of the results of their instruction: and it is taken not by the passing form of this world but by the eternal nature of the angels; and we are bidden to look to them,

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that their example might supPort the permanence and stability of the life of perfection. Now it has been promised that after the resurrection the life of men will be iike that of the angels. Hence it should follow-since He Who has promised us cannot deceive-that our lives even in this world should be directed towards the life to come: though living in the flesh and sojourning in the field of this world, we shall not be conformed to this world (Rom. o.z); rather throughout the course of this life we shall meditate on the life that is to come. Hence the bride strengthens the souls of those under instruction by her adjuration: so that even though they pass their lives in the fietd ofthis world they will nonetheless look towards the powers and will imitate angelic purity by- their self-restraint. In this way is love awakened and aroused, that is, heightened and intensified by an ever greater increase; and

the tJxt means that God's will is done on earth as it is in heauen when we too achieve that angelic freedom from passion.

865A4o. The Springtime of the Spirit (ibid., sermon 5, 868A)

How lovely is the Creator's description of the springtime which He has made! To Him David saysz The summer and the spring uere formed by thee (Ps. 73'17)' He dissolv-es *i.,ter's Jppr.rriv.ness, and tells us that the sadness of the season hm p"tted, and with it the unpleasant rains' He shows us the -."do*, filled and blossoming with flowers' The flowers, He tells us, are in full bloom and ready for plucking;

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and so now the flower pickers can gather them either for making garlands or preparing perfume. Sounds of speech make the season joyful, the song of birds echoes in the glens, and the sweet voice of the dove resounds in our ears. He tells us also of the fig and the vine and, from what they augur, of the pleasure that they will bring: for the fig tree is putting forth its fruit, and the vine is blossoming with flowers, delighting our nostrils with their fragrance. Thus the text revels in the picture of spring; it puts aside anything oppressive, and delights in pleasant descriptions. And yet, I think, the mind must not rest in the picture of these lovely things, but it must penetrate through them to the mystery here revealed, so as to disclose the treasure of meaning concealed beneath the words. What I am referring to is this. In days of old the human race grew cold with the chill of idolatry, and man's changeable nature was transformed into the nature of the immobile objects which he worshipped. As the Scripture says: Let thent. that mafte them beconte lifre unto them: and all suclt as trust in them (Ps. rr3.8). And this was oniy likely. For those who look towards the true God receive within themselves the characteristics of the divine nature; so too, those who turn their minds to the vanity of idols are transformed into the objects which they look at, and become stones instead of men. Turned thus to stone by the worship of idols, human nature became immovable and unable to advance; it had become stiff with the chill of idolatry. And therefore the Sun of lustice rose in this cruel winter, the spring came, the south wind dispelled that chill, and together with the rising of the sun's rays warmed everything that lay in its path. Thus mankind, that had been chilled into stone, might become

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warm again through the Spirit, and receiving heat from the rays of the Word, might again become as tuater leaping up into cternal life. His wind shall blow, it says (Ps. 47.18), and the waters shall run; and the rocfr was changed into pools of u./ater, and the stony hill into fountains of uater (Ps. rr3.8). The Baptist preached this clearly to the Jews, telling them that the very stones were being raised up to become children o.f Abraham (Matth. 3.9), imitating him in virtue. This is the message which the Church hears from the Word, receiving the splendor of truth through the windovrs of the Prophets and the grill-work of the Law.'7 Indeed the symbolic wall of doctrine still stood (I mean the Law), throwing a shadow of the good things to come, although not in itself an image of the reality; and behind it stood Truth wrapped in symbol. And first the brightness of the Word was communicated to the Church by the Prophets. Later, by the revelation of the Gospel the entire shadowy substance of symbol was dispelled and the intervening wall was torn down. In this way the atmosphere within the house was connected with the light of the upper heavens; and so there was no further need of using the light from the windows, since the true Light was enlightening all the interior by the rays of the Gospel. Thus the Word cries through the windows of the Church to raise up all that have been crushed: Now indeed arise from your fall, you who have slipped in the mire of sin; and you who have been tripped by the serpent and have fallen to earth by the sin of disobe dience, rise up !

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t87

When our human nature lay fallen upon the earth it 4r. "Arise and Come" (ibid., s68B-869A) But it is not enough, He continues, for you to rise up from sin. You must also advance in goodness, and accomplish the course of perfection. This is the lesson we learn from the story of the paralytic: the Word not only tells him to take up th. bu.den of his bed, but He also bids him waik (Matth' think the text refers to Progress 9-O;. A"a by walking, here,I anrl advancement in Perfection. Ancl so He says: Arise and come (Cant.2'ry)' What power there is in this command! For indeed the voice of the Lord ts a uoice of poraer as the Psalmist has said: Behold he will giue to his uiice the uoice of potuer (Ps. 6731; and again: 'H, ,poftt and they arcre made: he commanded and they u)ere'create,/ (Ps. 32.9). So too He speaks to His reclining bricle : Arise; and again Come-and straightway does His worcl become deed. For no sooner does she receive the power of the Word than she rises, approaches and draws near to the Light, as is clear from the words of Him Who calls her:

Aiise, come, my loue, my beautiful one, my doue (Cant' z.r3t4).Notice here the order of the words' How does each one link with the next ? Do you see how the thought sequence is closely kept in a kind of chain ? The bride hears the commancl; ih. it .-powered by the word; she arises, advances, comes close, becomes beautiful, is called a dove' Now, how can you see a beautiful image in a mirror unless it has re..iu.d the impression of a beautiful form I so it is with the mirror of human nature: it cannot become beautiful until it draws near to the Beautiful and becomes transformed by the image of the divine BeautY.

looked towards the serpent and held its image. But now that it has arisen and looks towards the good, turning its back on sin it takes on the form of the good towards which it faces.

it looks now upon that archetypal Beauty-for that is the Dove. For, turning towards the light, it has been made into the image of light, and within this light it has taken on the lovely form of the Dove-I mean the Dove that symbolizes the presence of the Holy Spirit.

For

qz. "The Winter Is Now Past" (ibid., 869A-8728) Tlre Word has spoken to the bride, calling her my loue l'recause she is close to Him, and my douebecatse she is beautiful. He now goes on to say that the sadness of winter no longer dominates our souls. For the cold cannot resist the rays of the sun. Behold, He says, winter is now past, the rain is oaer and gone (Cant. z.rr). Sin is given many diflerent names in accordance with its different efiects. It is called winter, rain, drops-each name suggesting a different sort of temptation.In wintertime everything that is lovely withers arvay. All the leaves, which are the natural crown of the beauty of the trees, fall from the branches and are mingled with earth. The song of the birds is silent, the nightingale flies away, the swallow sleeps, and the dove leaves its nest. Everything imitates the oppression of death. The blossom perishes; the grass dies; the branches are stripped of their leaves like bones of their fesh, and what was once lovely flower and leaf is now an ugly spectacle. To this we may add the change that comes over the sea in

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GREGORY OF NYSSA the winter: churned up and swollen from its depths it rises in peaks and mountains, and the water mounts up like a clilT. Rising beyond its limits, it attacks the land as though it were an enemy and strikes with the successive blows of its waves, reminding us of the assaults of military machines. Keep in mind, then, all the things we see in winter, that we may transpose them to a more allegorical level. What is it that withers and fades in the winter I What falls from the branches of the trees and dissolves in the earth I What is the meaning of the silence of the birds' song, and the sea tossed by the waves I What, again, is the rain and the rain-drops, and how does it pass over ? In all of this the deeper meaning of the text suggests that the winter is something human and endowed with freedom of will. Now even though my discourse may not explain each point, the meaning of all of these details r.r'il1 be quite clear to our audience. Man's nature in the beginning flourished while it was in Paradise, growing fat and thriving on the water of the fountain there ; and he flourished so long as he had the blossom of immortality and not the leaves' But when the winter of disobedience came and withered its roots, the blossom was shaken off and fell to the ground. Man was thus stripped of his immortality; the grass of virtue was dried up; the love of God was chille d by repe ated sin; and the passions were stirred up into a great swell by stormy lvinds, causing many souls to be shipwrecked. But then came One Who brought spring to our souls. And whenever an evil wind churned up the sea, he scolded the wincls and spoke to the sea: Peace, be still (Mark 4.39). And thus all was brought to peace and calm. Our nature began once again to blossom and reveal its beauty with its own

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flowers. For the flowers of life are the virtues, which blossom

now and bring forth ther fruit in season. This is why the sacred text tells us: Winter is now past, the rain is ouer and gone.The flowers haue appeared in our land, the time of pruning is conte (Cant. z.lr-n). Do you see, He says, the meadow blossoming with flowers I Do you see chastity, shining like a fragrant lily I Do you see the rose of modesty, and the violet, the good odor of Christ? Why not make a garland of these ? Now is the time to gather these flowers and adorn ourselves with them. T lte time ol pruning is come . This is what we are told by the uoice of the turtle (Cant. ztz),that is, the uoice cryin'g in the uilder' aess (Matth. 3.3).For fohn is the turtle-dove, the harbinger of lovely spring: he points out to men the fair flowers of virtue and offers them to those who are willing to gather tlrem. It was thus he showed us the flower that sprang from lesse's root, the Lamb of God that tafreth aua'y the sins of the woild, and showed us the penance we must do for our sins, the lives of virtue that we must lead.

43. From Doue to Doue (ibid.,

87C-876C)

The blessed and eternal substance of God, that sur|asses all understanding, contains all perfection within itself and cannot be limited. Hence nothing that is limiting, whether name, or concept or thing, can be considered as His attribute, as, for example, time, place, color, shape, form, mass, magnitude, dimension. But every perfection that He is conceived to have is present to an infinite and unlimited degree. For where evil has no place, Good must be without limit.

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But in our changeable natures, however, good and evil exist by turns, because of the power we have to choose equally either side of a contradiction. The consequent evil becomes

the limit of our good. And all the operations of our soul, insofar as they are opposed, terminate in and are limited by their opposites. But the divine nature is simple, pure, unique, immutable, unalterable, ever abiding in the same way, and never goes outside of itself. It is utterly immune to any participation in evil and thus possesses the good without limit, because it can see no boundary to its own perfection, nor see anything that is contrary to itself. When therefore it draws human nature to participate in its perfection, because of the divine transcendence it must always be superior to our nature in the same degree. The soul grows by its constant participa-

tion in that which transcends it; and yet the perfection in which the soul shares remains ever the same, and is always discovered by the soul to be transcendent to the same degree. We see the Word, then, leading the bride up a rising stair-

it were, up to the heights by the ascent of perfection. The Word first sends forth a ray of light through the uindows of the Prophets and through the lattices of the Law and the commandments. Then He bids the bride draw near to the light and then to become beautiful by being changed, in the light, into the form of the Dove. And then, even though she has enjoyed her share of good things as far as was in her power, He nonetheless continues to draw her on to participate in transcendent Beauty as though she had never tasted of it. In this way her desire grows as she goes on to each new stage of development; and because of the transcendence of the graces which she finds ever beyond her, she always seems to be beginning anew.

FROM GLORY TO GLORY

I9I

For this reason the Word says once again to His avvakened bride : Arise; and, when she has come, Come (Cant. z.r3). For he who is rising can always rise further; and for him who runs to the Lord the open field of the divine course is never exhausted. We must therefore constantly arouse ourselves and never stop drawing closer and closer in our course. For as often as He says Arise, and Come, He gives us the power to rise and make progress. In this light you must understand the sequel. In bidding the bride to become beautiful even though she is beautiful, He reminds us of the words of the Apostle who bids the same image tobe trans't'ormed from glory to glory (z Cor. 3.r8). This means that though what we find and grasp is always glory, no matter how great or sublime it may be, we always believe it to be less than what we hope for. Similarly, though the bride is a dove because of her previous perfection, she is ordered to become a dove once more by way of being transformed into what is more perfect.

case, as

44. The Cleft of the Rock (ibid., 876D-SzzD) Corne, rny doae,

in the cleft of the rocftnext to the wall

(Cant. z.r3-t4). What sort of ascent to perfection is here implied in our text ? It is that we must no longer consider the impact of those things which attract us; rather, we must take as our guide our yearning for perfection. Come, He says, by yourself; not out of sadness, or necessity, but by yourself, reinforcing your yearning for the good by your own reason,

and not out of any necessity. For perfection must not be coerced, it must be self-determined and free of all necessity.

i GREGORY OF NYSSA Such was David, for he realized that of all the things that r92

he had done, only those were pleasing to God that were done

freely, and so he vows that he will freely ofier sacrifice' And this is the spirit of every holy man of God, not to be led by necessity.

now show that you have achieved the state of perfection in your desire constantly to rise to what is higher. When you have done this, He says, you rvill com-e in-the cleft of the rocfrthat is next to the wall. Now I will tell you what He means by this, for we must translate the words a little more clearly out of their enismatic obscurity. The one cleft in the rocftfor man is the sublime message of the Gospel; for once we come to it there is no further need for types and symbolic representations, and the truth clears up the obrcuie message of the Law. No one surely who at all understands our faith would deny that the Gospel can be called a rock; and this can be gathered from many places in Scripture' The meaning, then, of our text is this: when you have exercised yourself, dear soul, in the Law, and have gazed in spirit upon the rays that shine through the prophetic winno longer in the shadow of the wall. For the do*r, "bid. wall incleed casts a shadow of the good things that are to come; in no sense does it ofier the very image of reality. And so you must move from the wall to the rock that is contiguous; the rock is adjacent to the wall, since the Law had been the bulwark for the truth of the Gospel' In such wise, then, are the cloctrines consistent; the meaning of one is coherent with that of the other. For what is closer to the commandment, Thou shalt not commit adultery, thr'n Lust not; or the precept binding one to be purifietl of all bloodshed than the command not to defile the heart bv anger ? Since So too should yount

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the cleft is contiguous with the bulwark, you have not far to go from the wall to the rock. The wall has its circumcision, and so has the rock; there is a lamb here and a lamb there, blood here and blood there, a Pasch here and a Pasch there, and so on almost all through; and these are very close to each other. But the rock is spiritual and the wall is earthly. The wall has been fashioned of our bodily clay. Whereas the rock of the Gospel has no fleshly clay mingled with its message. Here, too, man is circumcized, and yet he remains whole and entire and suffers no mutilation in his material nature. He keeps holy the Sabbath day by abstaining from sin, but he does not cease from acts of virtue, for he has learned that it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath. He chooses his food indiscriminately, and yet he touches no unclean thing. For he has learned from the rock that nothing that entereth into the mouth is defiled (Matth. r5.r7). The rock rejects all the bodily precepts of the Law and translates the sense of the words on a spiritual and supernatural plane, according to the words of St. Paul: T he lau is spiritual (Rom' 7:4).He who truly casts out the Law enters into the cleft of the rocft of. the Gospel, and this is contiguous with the

material wall.

+s. The Little Foxes (il,id., 88oC-88rD) And so the pure Bridegroom accepts the just request of His bride; but before revealing Himself openly, He first urges the hunters to catch the foxes to prevent them from spoiling the growth of His vine to maturity; and He says: Catch us the little foxes that destroy the uines (Cant. 2.r5).no For our

{t

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vines will flourish if we kill what is harming them. Hence, Catch us the little foxes that destroy the uines: lor our uine-

ts5

descent to earth, and conduct the King of glory into this world, and make Him known to those who know Him not. Who is this King of Glory? He uho is strong and mighty in battle (Ps. 23.8). It might however be suggested that these hunters are the ministering spirits, sent to minister lor them, who shall re' ceiae the inheritance ol saluation (Heb. r.r4); or perhaps the holy Apostles, who have been sent to hunt such beasts, and to whom He said: I uill mafte you to be fishers of nten (Matth. 4.rg). For they could not undertake their fishing of men-by snaring the souls of the elect in the net of their sacred message-if they had not first cast out those beasts, thoselittle foxes,from their lairs-that is, the hearts of menin which they were hiding. Thus they could make a place for tlre Son of God, a place uhereon to lay Hrs head, once the tribe of foxes ceased to make their dens in men's hearts. In any case, whoever the hunters are supposed to be according to the Word, from the commands given to them we are taught the tremendous and ineffable power of God. For He does not say: Hunt the boar of the forest that ravages God's vine, nor the solitary wild boar, nor the roaring lion, nor the great whale, nor the sea serpent. By such phrases as these would the Word show the hunters what power our adver' saries have. Rather, it tells us that all those terrestrial powers who struggle against mankind, the principalities and Powers and the cosmic rulers of darkness and the spirits ol uicfted' ness-all these are bttt little f oxe-e , pitrful and miserable when compared with our strength. If you conquer them, you will win a grace that will be your own. The vine, which is our human nature, begins to put forth its clusters of fruit with the flower of perfection. Thus, Catch us the little foxes that

in His

yard hath flourished. Can we do justice to the profound thought concealed here I What marvel of the divine grandeur is here contained ? What efiect of the divine omnipotence underlies the meaning of our text I The reference here is to the slayer of men, the tyrant of evil, whose tongue is sharp as a razor, of whom the Prophet says: The sharp arrouts of the mighty, aith coals that lay uaste (Ps. rr9.4), and he lieth in wait in secret like a lion in his den (Ps. ro.9 lHeb.l). This is the Serpent, the great apostate, Hades himself with open maw, the tyrant of the powers of darkness who holds sway

over death, and

GLORY

all the other things that the inspired word

tells us of him. It was he who broke down the barriers between the nations which were established clearly by the Most High in accordance with the number of His angels.uo He swooped down on the world like a bird upon a nest; he carried off the lost sheep; it was he who said that he would set his throne above the heavens and become lifte the Most High (Is. 14.14). And there are also all those horrible and frightening things which the Word tells us in the book of fob:ot that his sides are of brass,

his back of molten iron, his vitals of emery stone-not to mention all the other horrible details with which the Scriptures describe him. This great commander of the legions of devils-how is he described by Him Who is the sole true Power ? As a little fox. And as He urges His hunters to the chase, He uses the same contemptuous expression of all those who are with the devil and the entire force that is under him. The hunters would perhaps be the angelic hosts who accompany the Lord

i I

:

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FROM GLORY TO GLORY

destroy the aines; and our uineyard ltath flourislted (Cant. z.r5). The vine has heard the divine word of command, like .fruitful the woman of whom David speaks as tlte uife of the aine (Ps. 1278).She saw herself protected from the violation of those beasts by the power of Him Who commanded her. And straightway she gives herself to the Husbandman Who has destroyed the intermediate wall of separation. For no longer is the wall of the Law to separate her from being

ceive any further perfection. The other class of spiritual substance has been brought into being by creation; thus it constantly looks towards the first Cause, and is preserved in existence by a continual participation in transcendent Being. Thus, in a certain sense, it is constantly being created, ever changing for the better in its growth in perfection; along these lines no limit can be envisaged, nor can its progressive growth in perfection be limited by any term. In this way, its present state

ry6

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of perfection, no matter how great and perfect it might be, is merely the beginning of a greater and superior stage. Thus the words of the Apostle are verified: the stretching forth to

united with Him Whom she loves.

the things that are before involves the forgetting of what has already been attained (Phil. 3.r3). For at each stage the greater and superior good holds the attention of those who

46. "Forgetting the Things That Are Behind" (ibid., sermon 6, 8B5C-888A)

enjoy it and does not allow them to look at the past; their enjoyment of the superior perfection erases all memory of that which was inferior. This, I think, is the lesson which we are taught by our consideration of the bride's discourse.

Divine providence has divided creatures into two classes: the one is material and bound to the senses; the other is immaterial and spiritual. By the sensuous I mean anything that we can perceive by our sense faculties; and the spiritual is that which transcends the sensuous. Now the spiritual is without bound or limit, whereas the other is completely circumscribed by limitations.t2 For everything material is determined by quantity and quality, and in our concept of its properties there is alwavs limitation in its magnitude, form, appearance and shape; no one who considers matter can grasp anything in his imagination beyond these dimensions. What is spiritual and immaterial, however, is free of all such determinations, it evades all terms and has no limits. Spiritual substances are further divided as follows: first there is the uncreated substance, itself the Creator of all things, that remains eternally what it is. Remaining ever unchangeable, it transcends all addition or diminution; it cannot re-

47. Loue's Quest (il)id., BBBC-Sq:C)

In earlier stages of the soul's ascent, the lesson of the pason the particular nature of her increase in

sage depended

perfection. The bride, constantly making progress and never stopping at any stage of perfection, was compared to the stailion that overthrew the Egyptian tyrant; and then to the sort of chains and ornaments which adorn the neck. Not content with these stages she proceeds higher. In the sweet spikenard she recognizes the divine fragrance, but she does not remain here; she takes what she most desires and, like a

,l

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sweet-smelling sachet, she suspends

it

between the breasts of

the spirit, and worn within the space of her heart it gives forth the fragrance of the divine message. After this she brings forth a fruit which is the Vine-dresser Himself, calling Him the cluster, as she exhales a sweet and lovely fragrance through her blossoms. Thus growing by these spiritual ascensions, she is called beautiful, beloved, and the beauty of her eyes is likened to doves. Then she proceeds even further. Becoming more clear-sighted, she begins to comprehend the beauty of the Word; she marvels how He descends in shadow to the bed of this life, under the shade, as it were, of the matter of His human body. Next she begins to describe the dwelling of virtue: it is covered with cedar and cypress wood, which do not admit any rottenness or corruption, and in this she teaches the permanence and immutability of her desire for perfection (Cant. r.16). Then she explains her growth in virtue by a comparison, appearing as a lily arnong thorns (Cant. z.z). Once again, she realizes the difierence between her Spouse and the others. He is called an apPle tree among the fruitless woods blossoming with the loveliness of the spring. She comes into His shadow and enters His house, where she is supported by perfumes and strengthened by the fruits of the apple tree. By a delicious wound she receives His special dart in her heart; and then she herself becomes the arrow in the hands of the Bowman, Who with His right hand draws the arrow near to Himself, and with His left directs its head towards the heavenly goal. Afterwards, as though she has arrived now at perfection, she explains to the other maidens her afiection for Him Whom she desires, stirring up their love by a kind of oath.

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Now who would not say that the soul that reached this height had attained to the highest limit of perfection I And yet the final stage of all her previous attainments becomes the beginning of her introduction to all that still lies beyond. All this now is thought of as the sound of a voice that calls the soul, through its spiritual sense of hearing, to a contemplation of the mysteries. She begins to look upon her Beloved as He appears in difierent forms. Now he rs lifte a roe, now like a young hart (Cant.2:7); but the vision does not stay within the same spot, nor is it always in our vision, but He leaps upon the mountains, and skips from the peaks to the hilltops. Here again, the bride is in a more perfect state, when a second call comes to her to leave the shadow of the wall, to come out into the light and to rest in the cleft of the rocft uhich is adjacent to the uall (Cant. z.t4),to take her pleasure in the springtime and gather the fowers of the season, now that they are in full bloom and ready for pruning-and so on with all the other pleasures which the season offers to those who would enjoy it-in the midst of the songs of the birds. Through all of this the bride emerges ever more perfect, and she now thinks herself ready to see the speaker's face openly and to listen to him directly instead of through others.

Once again, it is right for the soul to rejoice at this, now that she is arriving in her lofty ascent at the peak of her desires. What greater happiness could be imagined than that of seeing God ? And yet this climax.of all she has now attained becomes the beginning of her hope for the things that lie ahead. She now hears the voice of her Lord entrusting the hunters with the life of the spiritual vines, ordering them

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to catch the beasts that harm the fruit, those little foxes we spoke of. This done, the two are united: God comes to the soul, and the soul in turn unites itself with God. For she says: My beloued to me, and I to him uho feedeth antong the lilies (Cant. zt6), to Him indeed Who has transformed our human nature from the realm of shadowy appearances to that of ultimate truth. Thus you see the heights to which the soul rises, proceeding, as the Prophet says,"t'rom uirtue to airtue (Ps. 83.8), so that it would seem to have achieved its hopes in the highest degree. For surely nothing can surpass the joy of being within the Beloved when the Beloved is also within us. And yet, though she has arrived at this stage, the bride still laments as though she were still deprived of her goal. As though she does not yet possess the object of her desire, she is anxious and perplexed; and she expresses her anxiety in the narrative of the text (Cant. 3.r-4), describing how she found what she was seeking. All this we learn from our contemplation of the words of the text, and we are thus taught never to set any bounds to the immensity of the Godhead; nor can any measure of human

knowledge ever become a limit to our comprehension of our goal, so as to force us to stop in our ever forward progress towards heaven. Rather, the soul that is rising towards transcendent truth in the ways of higher understanding should be so disposed that every stage of perfection that is possible for human nature should be merely the beginning of a yearning

for things more sublime. And so, consider now the doctrine that is proposed for our consideration, keeping in mind the fact that the bridal chamber and the preparations for marriage are merely the material

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level of the Scriptural message and offer us matter for higher contemplation. The ultimate meaning transfers the mental concepts to a pure and spiritual level, and through these various doctrines are proposed; the symbolism of the narration is used to bring out the clear doctrine that is revealed. Thus in our text the bride refers to the soul; God is called the Spouse, Whom she loves with all her heart and soul and strength. And consequently, having come, as she thinks, to the height of her hopes, and thinking that she is already united with her Beloved, she speaks of her more perfect participation in good as a bed, referring to the night, the time of darkness. By the night she refers to the contemplation of the invisible, just as Moses, who entered into the darkness to the place where God was; and God, as the Prophet says, made tlre darftness ltis coaert round about him (Ps. r7.n). Arriving at this point, the bride is then instructed that, far from attaining perfection, she has not even begun to approach it. Now, she says, that I have been deemed worthy of the nuptial rites, I rest as it were upon the bed of all that I have hitherto understood. But I am suddenly introduced into the realm of the invisible, surrounded by the divine darkness, searching for Him Who is hidden in the darft cloud. Then it was that I felt that love for Him Whom I desired-though the Beloved Himself resists the grasp of our thoughts. And so I sougltt him in my bed by night (Cant. 3.r), to learn of His substance, His beginning and His end, ancl in what His essence consists. But I fownd Him not.I called Him by name though it were possible to find Him in a name when He -as cannot be named. No name would have a meaning that would reach Him Whom we seek. For how can He be discovered by a name

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when He is beyond all names? Thus she says: 1 called him, but he ansu,ered not (Cant.3.r). For then I recognized that of the magnifcence of the glory of His holiness there is no end (Ps. 144.5,3).Hence she gets up again and in spirit traverses the entire spiritual and transcendental world, which slre calls here a city.Herc there are principalities and dominations and thrones assigned to powers, and gatherings of heavenly lrosts (which she calls the marftet-place) and an innumerable multitude (which she calls the broad uays), and through all she hopes to find Him Whom she loves. In her search she surveys the entire angelic army. And not finding among the good things there the object of her quest, she reasons thus with herself : Is it possible that my Beloved can be comprehended? Haue you seen him uhom my soul loueth? Their only answer to the question is silence; and by their silence they show that what she seeks is incomprehensible to them. And after she has gone about the entire supramundane city by the operation of her mind, and has not recognized her Beloved even among things spiritual and immaterial, then at last she gives up all she has found; for she realizes that what she seeks can be understood only in the very inability to comprehend His essence, and that every intelligible attribute becomes merely a hindrance to those who seek to find him. This is why she says: When I had a little passed by them (Cant. 3.4),I abandoned all creatures and passed by all that is intelligible in creation; and when I gave up every finite mode of comprehension, then it was that I found my Beloved by faith. And 1 tuill neuer let Him go, now that I have found Him, from the grasp of faith, until He comes within my chamber (Cant.3.4). For the heart is indeed a chamber to be filled by the divine indwelling-that is, when

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it

is restored to the state that it had in the beginning, as it was when it was made by her that bore nte (Cant.3.4). For surely we would be right in understanding the mother here as the first Cause of our being.

48. The Pillar of Smoke in the Desert (ibid., sgaB-SqzD) Wlto is she that goeth up from the desert, as a pillar of smofte of aromatical spices, of rnyrrh, and franftincense, and of all the poruders of the perfumer? (Cant. 3.6) Whoever would give serious thought to this text would find here confirmed the truth of the doctrine we have already put forward. In theatrical spectacles it is always the same actors who act out the proposed plot; but we always think that different characters appear, because the actors take on different roles by changing their masks. So, for example, the same actor who came out before as a slave and a private citizen next appears as a noble or as a soldier; then afterwards, taking ofi the costume of the subordinate, he comes on in the character of a general or else with the costume of a king. So it is with the life of perfection. Those who, in their desire for higher things are being transformed from glory do not remain in the same character; but according to the degree of perfection which is established in each one, a difierent character will manifest itself in their lives, a new one always following on the old, by reason of their increase in grace. This is the reason, I think, why the friends of the Bridegroom are surprised at what they see. First of all they recognize the bride as beautiful, but beautiful as a woman. Later they praise her beauty by comparing it to gold with silver

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inlays. Now, however, they do not consider any of her previous attributes; but qualifying her with the highest perfection, they marvel not only at the height she has reached but also the depths from which she has risen. And this is the point which indicates the intensity of their wonder: she alone is seen ascending, and she is compared to a grove of trees. A pillar of smofte is imagined as rising up and expanding. And what nourishes this pillar is not any fertile or irrigated soil, but rather a dry and arid wilderness. Where then are the roots of these pillars and how do they grow I Their roots are the dust of perfumes. And they are watered by the smoke of incense which irrigates this grove with its fragrance. Such is

the praise which the Word heaps on the bride so described in our text. And as she is seen, each one asks the other about her, as though she were changing to some other form. And this perfect praise which they give her progress in virtue is not because of her previous form, but because of the great change and transformation for the better. This, then, is the voice of those who are struck with admiration at the unusual way her loveliness has blossomed: Can she be rising up from the desert, whom before we saw so blacft? How has she removed the form of darkness? How is it that her face shines as white as snow ? It is the wilderness, apparently, that is responsible and caused her to rise to the heights like a young sprout, transformed into such loveliness. And she did not rise by some coincidence or by some haphazard chance. No, she won her beauty by her own efiorts, by her devotion and her continence.ss In the same way the Prophet's soul thirsted for the divine spring (Ps. 4r.3): when his flesh became like a parched and trackless desert, then did he experience this thirst for God (Ps. 62.23).

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So too here, the rising of the bride in the desert is evidence that she has risen so high out of her devotion and her continence that she causes even the friends of the Bridegroom to marvel. And they give expression to her loveliness through many images, because it is impossible to explain it with one. First they compare her beauty to pillars; then they express the marvels that have been wrought in her not by the image of one tree, but by comparing her to an entire forest; the variety and the charm of her virtues can only be described by the comparison with a grove. Next her beauty is compared to the smoke of incense; and again, it is not a simple smoke, but a mixture of franfrincense and ntyrrh-as though the bride's beauty can only be expressed by the combination of each of these delightful odors. Another aspect of their praise is derived from the association of these two perfumes: myrrh is used for burying the dead, and frankincense is, in a sense, consecrated to the divine worship. The meaning, then, is that a person who intends to dedicate himself to the divine service will not be good incense, consecrated to God, unless he first becomes myrrh; that is, he must mortify his members on earth by being buried with Him Who assumed death for our sake, and he must take that myrrh that was used for the Lord's burial in order to mortify his members in his own flesh. Thus all the different perfumes of virtue are, in the course of life, reduced to a fine ash in the fire of sacrifice to produce that sweet powder; and whoever breathes its sweet odor becomes fragrant and filled with the spirit of the perfumes. After their praise of the bricle's beauty, the Bridegroom's friends who prepare that holy bridal chamber and are the escorts for the virginal bride, point out to her the beauty of

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the royal bed, for they wish to arouse in her a more intense desire for that spotless and divine marriage with Him.

49. The Guardians oJ'the Heart (ibid., gooB-gojC)' What is the meaning of the threescore soldiers, expert in the doctrines of terrible war, who surround the bridal bed ? What is the meaning of the sword's adornment girt at their side and the terror they instill in the night ? For the Word speaks of a fearful terror that comes from certain fears in tlte night (Cant. 3.8), and this has reference to the soldiers. We must then examine the meaning of these words for an interpretation which will be consistent with what we have previously seen.

What then can this meaning be I It would seem that the of the divine beauty has something terrifying about it, and this is characterized by qualities which seem the exact opposite of bodily beauty. For what makes bodily beauty desirable is that it is pleasant to the sight, soft to the touch, and not at all connected in our minds with fear or sternness. But that divine, incorruptible Beauty is at once something stern and terrifying, though in itself it cannot be terrified. But that carnal desire that settles on the body's members is an obsessive and sordid thing, and like a band of brigands lays siege to the mind, often seizing it and taking it captive against its will. Thus it becomes God's enemy, as the Apostle saysi the uisdom of the flesh becomes an enelny to God (Rom. 8.7). It follows that the love of God can only arise from what is contrary to carnal desire. The love of God is made up of a fearsome, imperturbable fortitude; whereas

attractiveness

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the love of the flesh is dominated by a slackness, an indulgence, and a sense of indolent relaxation. Only a stern wrath terrifies and puts to flight the spirit of pleasure : only thus can the chaste beauty of the soul be revealed, unsoiled by an inclination to carnal pleasure. It is necessary, then, that the nuprial couch of the king be surrounded by soldiers expert in war; the swords girt on their thighs strike terror and fear nor only into our darkened thoughts but also in those who lie in wait for the righteous and aim their arrows at them in the nights when the moon is hidden. The weapons of those who stand guard around the bed destroy all wicked thoughts, as is clear from the text: All erPert in uar: and euery mAn's stuord upon his thigh (Cant. 3.8). It is clear indeed that they know how to fight fesh and blood, having their swords girt on their thighs. All those who are familiar with the obscurities and the concepts of the Scriptures surely understand this reference, and are aware that the sword is the Word. Now he who has girt Himself with that fearful weapon, I mean the sword of continence, is the Beloved lying upon His immortal bed. He is one of the ualiant of Israrl, worthy to be counted among the threescore. Again, I do not doubt that this number has a mystical meaning, though it is clear only to those to whom the grace of the Spirit reveals the hidden mysteries. We do, of course, say that it is sufficient if we are filled with the obvious sense of Scripture, if (just as Moses commanded for the celebration of the Passover) we eat the flesh that appears and leave untouched the bones of obscurity (Exocl. rz.8-ro). But if anyone desires the hidden marrow of the Word, he must seek it of Him Who reveals His mysteries ro rhose who are worthy.

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In no case should we give the impression of letting

the

Scriptures pass without examination, negligent of the Lord's command to search the Scriptures (lohn 5.39). And so we must closely examine the text here which refers to the tltreescore ualiant ones. Moses received twelve rods in accordance with the number of the tribes of Israel, but the one that flowered was superior

to the rest (Num. ry.2 fr.). Again Joshua took twelve stones from the fordan (los.+.g ff.), as many as the tribes of Israel; and of these none were rejected but all were received in equal honor to bear witness to th( mystery that took place at the |ordan. There is an important inference to be drawn from these facts. The Word teaches us that the people had made a certain progress towards perfection. In the beginning only one rod is found to be living and flourishing; all the others are rejected as dry and sterile. But with the passage of time, as they studied the precepts of the Law with sharper comprehension, they recognize and accept the seconcl circumcision which |oshua brought them; and the stone knife cuts away all that is unclean in them. Every attentive listener will, I am sure, understand the symbolic meaning of the stone and the knife. At any rate, as their life of virtue became stronger in accordance with the Law, it was only likely that none of the stones taken up with the name of the tribes of Israel would be rejected. As time advanced one would expect to find an increase in perfection; and Israel's virtue was, indeed, becoming stronger.

Now in our present text it is not a question of a rod or a from each of the tribes of Israel. Rather, instead of rods or stones we have five warriors, expert in

stone being taken

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anr,taken from the aaliant anes of Israel, holding up their swords and standing guard over the divine bed.None, there-

fore, are rejected: because the pick of every tribe (signified by the number five), multiplied by twelve, make up the full complement of threescore. There had to be, therefore, five terrible warriors to stand guard over the royal bed; if there were not five, the others could not be admitted. Now how may we dare to develop the rest of the argument? How is it that five men are armed from each tribe to guard the royal couch I And how does each of these five become a terrible adversary to the enemy with his sword girt upon his thigh? Is it not clear that the five warriors are the same as the stone, that is, they represent each of the five senses, each brandishing a ready sword to terrify the enemy I The sword of the eye is to look constantly upon the Lord, to see aright, not to be defiled by unclean things. Again, the sword of hearing is to listen to spiritual instruction, and never to open oneself to any vain discourse. So too, we can arm taste, touch and smell with the sword of continence, Putting the proper armor on each sense in turn, and thus prevent the shock and terror which enters as a result of the thoughts of darkness. For the time when our souls are attacked is always the night and the darkness. It is the nighttime, the Prophet tells us, when the beasts of the field attempt to make their foul meal on the flocks of the Lord: Thou hast ap' pointed darfrness, and it is night: in it shall all the beasts of the field go about: the young lions roaring after their prey (Ps. ro3.zo-zr). Now lsrael embraces all who are saved. Yet all are not Israelites that are of lsrael (Rom. 9.6): only those who look towards the Lord deserved so to be called by reason of their

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cooperation. Now anyone who looks toward the Lord ought

Hence the meaning of the warriors over the bed and the

not to have his senses directed towards sin. No man can look at two masters, but he must hate the one if he expects to love the other. Thus tlte bed of the king represents ali the elect. Now all those who are clean of heart shall see God; and those who see God are rightly called Israel. On a mystical level this name is given to all the twelve tribes. Thus the full number of the elect is fittingly summed up in the number sixty; for one is taken from each of the twelve sections and, as it were, divided into five warriors according to the number of the senses. And so all who have put on the armor of the Lord and surround the single royal bed are Israel. And because of the universal excellence of the twelve tribes, the entire number of the warriors comes to the number sixty. And yet there is one battle line, one army and one bed, that is to say, one Church. And all shall become one bride, to be joined in the unity of one Body under one Commander, one Leader, one

children in the bed comes to the same thing. Both enjoy a freedom from passion: the children because they never experienced it, the warriors because they have driven it off. The former have never known it; the latter have returned again to their pristine state by becoming children once again so far as passion was concerned. And thus the elect are discovered under all these symbols: as a child, as a warrior, as a true Israelite. As the true Israelite, he sees God with a clean heart; as a warrior he guards the royal couch, that is, his own heart, in purity and freedom from passion; as a child he sleeps upon the couch of salvation.

Bridegroom.

visions he enjoyed during the time of his mystical initiation

But the bed also represents the rest and happiness of the elect. We learn this from what the Lord says ro rhe man who knocks importunely at the door at night: The door is nou shut, and my children are with me in bed (Luke rr.7). Rightly does He call His children those who have won impassibility by the arms of righteousness. And by this we are taught that the perfection we attain by our efforts is none other than that which was implanted in our nature at the beginning. For when a man has girt his sword on his thigh by devotion to the life of perfection and has thus cast out all passion, he becomes as it were a child in years because he is no longer sensitive to such passionare impulr.r. For immaturity of years cloes not allow the experience of passion.

in Paradise-it

5o. The Doctrine of Infnite Growth (ibid., sermorr 8, 94oC-

94rc)'u The great Apostle told the Corinthians of the wonderful was a time when he even doubted his own nature, whether he was body or spirit-and he testifies: 1 /o not count myself to haue apprehended. Bat 't'orgetting the things that are be hind,I stretch myself 't'orth to those that are before (Phil. 3.13). And clearly this is meant to include even that third heauen which Paul alone saw; for even Moses told us nothing of it in his cosmogony. Yet even after listening in secret to the mysteries of heaven, Paul does not let the graces he has obtained become the limit of his desire, but he con-

tinues to go on and on, never ceasing his ascent. Thus he teaches us, I think, that in our constant participation in the blessed nature of the Good, the graces that we receive at every point are indeed great, but the path that lies beyond

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our immediate grasp is infinite. This will constantly happen to those who thus share in the divine Goodness, and they will always enjoy a greater and greater participation in grace throughout all eternity. The pure of heart will see God, according to the Lord's infallible word (Matth. 5.8), according to his capacity, receiving as much as his mind can sustainl yet the infinite and incomprehensible nature of the Godhead remains beyond all understanding. For the magnificence of His glory, as the Prophet says (Ps. 144.5), has no end, and as we contemplate Him He remains ever the same, at the same distance above us. The great David enjoyed in his heart those glorious elevations as he progressed from strength to strength; and yet he cried to God: Lord, thou art the most High, forever and ever (Ps.8z.r9). And by this I think he means that in all the infinite eternity of centuries, the man who runs towards Thee constantly becomes greater as he rises higher, ever growing in proportion to his increase in grace. Thou, indeed, art the most High, abiding forever, and canst never seem smaller to those who approach Thee for Thou art always to the same degree higher and loftier than the faculties of those who are rising. This, then, is the doctrine that I think the Apostle is teaching about the ineffable nature of the Good, when he says that the eye does not know it even though it may see it. For the eye does not see it completely as it is, but only insofar as it can receive it. So too, even though we may constantly listen to the Word, we do not hear it completely according to its manifestation. And even though the clean of heart use his eyes as much as he can, yet it has not entered into the lteart of man. Thus though the new grace we may obtain is

greater

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our final goal; rather, for those who are rising in perfection, the limit of the good that is attained becomes the beginning of the discovery of higher goods. Thus they never stop rising, moving from one new beginning to the next, and the beginning of ever greater graces is never limited of itself. For the desire of those who thus rise never rests in what they can already understand; but by an ever greater and greater desire, the soul keeps rising constantly to another which lies ahead, and thus it makes its way through ever higher regions towards the Transcendent.

5r. "Come From Libanus" (ibid., g+rD-p++D)

from Libanus, my

spouse, come from Libanus, come: thou shalt pass and come from the beginning of faith, frorn the top of Sanir and Hermon,from the dens of the lions, Come

from the mountains of the leopards (Cant. a.8).

The fountain of grace constantly draws to itself all those who thirst, as the Source has said in the Gospel: lf any man thirst, let him come to me and drinft (lohn 737). Here He puts no limit on our thirst, nor on our movement towards Him nor on the satisfaction of our thirst; but He has created our tendency to thirst, to drink, and to move towards Him by a command that is constant and perpetual. To those who have tasted and seen by experience that the Lord is sweet (Pr. ::.g), this taste becomes a kind of invitation to further enjoyment. And thus the one who is rising towards God constantly experiences this continual incitement towards further Progress.

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Let us now recall the invitation which, as we have seen, the Word often uses to rouse His Beloved: Come, rny loae, He says; and again: Arise, my doae; and: Arise and come to the cleft of the rocft.With these words or others like them the Word urges and attracts the soul to a longing for higher things. And now He testifies to the utter purity of the soul tlrat rises to meet Him, saying:Thou art all fair, and there is no spot in thee (Cant. +.2).To prevent her from becoming too proud because of His praise, and thus prevent herself frorn rising higher, He tries to urge her once again with this word of encouragement to rise to a clesire of the Transcenclent: Come-from Libanus, my sPouse. By this He means: You did well in following Me up till now, and you have come with me to the Mount of Incense. You were buried with Me in Baptism unto death; but you rose again and ascended in communion with My divinity. This is what is meant by the word Libanus.''u So rise up now from here and go on towards other peaks, advancing and ever rising by operative knowledge. Come, then, from. Libanus, He says, no longer as My betrothed, but as my bride. For no one can live with Me as My bride unless by the myrrh of death she is transformed into the incense of Libanus. Since you have reached this height, do not stop climbing as though you have already attained. Tliis Libanus is the beginning of your faith, in which you shared by the resurrection, and it is the beginning of your progress towards the highest graces. From this beginning, then, which is faith, thou shalt pass and conle: that is to say, You will now arrive and at the same time not cease to pass on perpetually by continuing to rise. And so our text says:Thou shalt pass and conte frorn the be ginning of faith,from the top of Sanir and Hermon (Cant.

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4.8). Here the reference is to the mystery of our rebirth from heaven. For it is here, they say, that the sources of the |orclan rise, and over them lies this mountain which is clivided into two peaks called Sanir and Hermon. The river that came from those sources became the beginning of our clivine transformation. That is why the soul hears her Belovetl calling to

her: Come from Libanus, from the beginning of faith,lrom the top of those mountains from which you received those mystical springs.

52. The Lions' Den (ibid., g++D-g+sD)

Very fittingly does the bride mention lions and leopards (Cant. +.8); by introducing unpleasant things she enhances her enjoyment of those that are pleasant. Indeed, man was once created in God's image, but became a wild beast, transformed into an irrational creature, becoming a lion ancl a leopard by reason of his sinful ways. For whoever is attracted by the lion,who lieth in uait irt his den, as the Prophet says (Ps. ro.9 fHebr.]), is caught in his trap and, because he has been crushed by the beast, is transformed into his nature. Let them that mafte them, he says (Ps. rr3.8), become lifte unto them: and all such as trust in them. So too, in allowing his soul to become tainted by the defilement of life, man becomes a leopard.

Now there was a time when man lived in idolatry and in the error of fudaism and wandered along all the various evil paths of sin. But after that he passed through the |ordan and

the Mount of Myrrh and Libanus, and rose to such a height that he now walks in the heavens with God. For this reason

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GREGORY OF NYSSA the Word intensifies the bride's present joy by introducing the unpleasant things that are now past, in the days before Libanus and the beginning of faith, before the mysteries of the ]ordan that we have considered. A time of peace is much more enjoyable after the war is past, and can be made pleasant by stories of past sufferings. The body takes much more pleasure in the blessing of good health, when nature has been restored after a painful bout of sickness. So, too, here the Bridegroom gives the soul that is ascending towards Him a greater increase and intensity in her enjoyment of perfection not only by showing His bride His own beauty, but also

by reminding her of the terrifying beasts. He does this that she might enjoy her present delights all the more, by comparing them with the state from which she was transformed. It is possible, too, that He is providentially arranging another grace for His bride. Though we are changeable by nature, the Word wants us never to change for the worse; but by constant progress in perfection, we are to make our mutability an aid in our rise towards higher things, and so by the very changeability of our nature to establish it immovably in good. This is the reason why the Word, like a pedagogue or a guardian protecting us from any change for the worse, makes reference to the beasts that have been conquered. And thus we are to strengthen our immutability and stability in good by our turning away from evil: while not ceasing in our progress towards the good, we do not decline towards what is evil. And so the Bridegroom, in calling His bride from Libanus, reminds her of tlte lions' den in which she used to live, and he also mentions the mountains of the leopards where she passed her life when she lived together with the beasts.

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The Mirror of the Church (ibid., g4SD-g4gB)

Now the voice of the Word is ever a voice of power. At the creation, light shone forth at His command, and again at His order the firmament arose; and similarly all the rest of creation came into being at His creative Word. So too now, when the Word calls a soul that has advanced to come unto Him, it is immediately empowered at His command and becomes what the Bridegroom wishes. It is transformed into something divine, and it is transforftted from the glory in which it exists to a higher glory by a perfect kind of alteration. Thus the angelic choir that surround the Bridegroom express their admiration for the bride in these words

of praise: Thoa ltas giuen us heart, our sister and spouse (Cant. 4.g)." For the attribute of integrity shines forth now in the bride as well as in the angels, so that she, like they, experiences no movement of passion in her flesh; and so this brings her into a kind of sisterly relationship with these spiritual powers. Hence they say to her: Thou has giuen us heart, our sister and s?ouse. She is rightly honored with the title of sister because of her integrity, and of spouse, because of her union with the Word. Now I think that the expressionThou hast giuen us heart means the same as "Thou hast given us life," as though they had said: "Thou hast put heart into us." And for the sake of clarity, in order to make clear what the expression means, I shall call upon the divine Apostle for an explanation of these mysteries. For he says somewhere in writing to the Ephesians, where he is explaining to us the great economy of salvation through the epiphany of God in the flesh, that in

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addition to the revelation that was made to men with regard to the divine mysteries of salvation, the manifold cuisdom of God was also revealed to the heavenly principalities and Pozuers through the same economy which Christ manifested to men. The text reads: That the mani'fold tuisdom may be made frnorun to tlte principalities and powers in lteauenly places througlt the church, according to tlte eternal pur?ose, eulticlt lte made, in Cltrist lesus our Lord: in ruhom we haae boldness and access with confidence by tlte faith of him (Ephes. 3.ro-rz).It is indeed throwgh the churclt that the manif old uisdom ol God is made known to these supramundane powers, for the wisdom of God works great wonders through things that are quite the contrary. How is it that life comes through death, justice through sin, praise through malediction, glory through dishonor, strength through weakness I In earlier times these celestial powers were familiar only with the regular and uniform operation of the divine wisclom as it worked miracles in accordance with its nature. There was not that variety in what rhey then beheld: the omnipotent Godhead working according to its power, bringing creatures into existence by a simple act of the will, creating all things good as they welled up from the very Source of Beauty. But that mani't'old quality of the divine wisdom, which arises by the union of opposites, has only now been clearly revealed to them through the Church.' how the Word becomes flesh, life is minglecl u'ith death, in his bruises our wound is hcaled, the infirmity of the Cross brings down the power of the Adversary, the invisible is revealed in the flesh. the captives are ransomed, He Himself is both purchaser and price (for He gave Himself to death as a ransom for us), He

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2r9

is in the throes of death and does not depart from life, He is sent into slavery and remains a King. All these and more are the works of a wisdom that is manifold and obscure; and all these the friends of the Bridegroom Iearn through tlte Church, and thus they are given heart as they recognize in mystery another aspect of the divine wisdom. Perhaps (if I may venture a rather bold conjecture) in seeing the beauty of the Bridegroom in the bride they are really admiring the invisible and the incomprehensible as it is in all creatures. For God, as fohn tells us, no man hath seen at any time (r John 4tz), nor, as Paul reminds us, czn see (r Tim. 6.16). And yet He has made the Church His body, and He builds it with love through the increase of the faithful, until we shall all be united in one perfect Man, unto tlte nreasure of tfte age of the fulness of Chria (Ephes.4.13). If then the Church is Christ's body, Christ is the Head of the body, forming the countenance of the Church with His own features. Perhaps it is this that the friends of the Bridegroom saw when they were given heart: in her they see more clearly that which is invisible. It is like men who are unable to look upon the sun, yet they can see it by its reflection in the water. So the friends of the Bridegroom see the Sun ol lustice by looking upon the face of the Church as though it were a pure mirror, and thus He can be seen by His reflection.

s+. The Single Eye (ibid.,949C-952D) Hence more than once His friends say to the bride: T hou hast giuen us heart (Cant. 4.9). And by this they mean: You have instilled in us a soul, and a faculty by which we can

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the light in you. But they repeat it, and by saying it again add credibility to their statement. They repeat it saying: Tltou lrast giuen us heart with one of thy eyes.It is this particularly that has filled the friends with admiration for the bride. For the soul has two faculties of vision, one that sees the truth, and the other that wanders off into senseless things. But the pure eye of the bride is only open for the vision of the Good, and the other faculty is completely inoperative. Hence the friends praise only one of the eyes, the one by which alone she sees Him Who is unique, I mean Him Whose nature is unchangeable and eternal, the true Father, His only-begotten Son, and the Holy Spirit. And their one nature is truly unique, for the distinctions which arise from the three Persons cause in it no separation or division. Some men have very bad vision with regard to the eternal nature of the Godhead because their eyes are at variance; because of the images which arise from their distorted vision they divided His unique nature into many. These are the men who are said to see much, and in seeing so much they see nothing. And even some who look upon God soon wander off in the material images of their imagination; they are unworthy of the angels' praise, since they waste their time in fantasies

see

about the non-existent. But the man who has sharp vision for God alone, is blind in all the other things which attract the eyes of the multitude. And this is why the bride excites their admiration by one of

her eyes. The man who has many eyes is really blind, because he uses all his eyes to look at foolish things. But sharp-eyed and clearsighted is the man who looks only to the good with the single eye of his soul. Though the language of the context is obscure, it will not

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from what we have already seen, to understand what is meant by the word one and by the chain on the bride's neck. The text reads: Thou hast giuen us heart with one of thy eyes, with one, and with a chain of thy necft.58 The words "witl one" are parallel with the words "with one of thy eyes," and we must assume that they mean "with one soul." For the uninstructed have many souls; their passions exercise such dominance that they take the place of the soul, and t}re soul's character is constantly assuming the form of grief and pleasure, anger and fear, boldness and cowardice. And so we are taught that the person who looks towards the Word has but one soul, because of the uniformity of her life of virtue. And so this is the way we should punctuate the text, taking the words "with one" closely with what precedes, and understanding it to mean "in one soul" or "in one disbe hard,

position."

There is a different idea in what follows, uith a chain of thy necft. Paraphrasing the whole context a little more clearly, one might say: Your eye is one insofar as it looks towards the One; you have one soul because you are not divided according to difierent passions; the form of your neck is perfect because it takes upon itself the divine yoke. The yoke of Christ, as we see, must be the chain of thy necft, and the one eye and the one soul consist in your attitude towards the true Good. Thus we confess that you haae giaen us heart with these wonders, revealing your one eye and one soul and the chain of your neck (the chain on the bride's neck being the yoke, as we have said). Now we have taken the friends of the Bridegroom to be the angels; and this is the praise which they express on seeing the beauty of the bride. And to prevent this eulogy of His

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bride from appearing false or exaggerated, the Word confirms His friends' judgment of His bride's beauty by voicing His own view; and He testifies to her beauty by referring to even great wonders in the description He gives of the loveliness that is radiant in her body. But all of this I shall explain farther on, God willing, if I receive some assistance from the power on high to give me an insight into these mysteries and into the meaning of the beauty of His Church.

of trutir which was accomplished through the message of the Gospel is alone sweet to Gocl, and it is judged to be superior to all the spices of the old Law, because it is no longer concealed by type and shadow but gives forth its fragrance in an open revelation of truth. And if any of those former spices pieased the Lord in an odor of sweetness, the reason why they were accepted was not the superficial or

222

"--)

matical spices, this is the lesson we are taught: the mystery

material appearance of these cult acts, but rather the meaning 55. An Odor oJ Sweetness (ibid., sermon 9, 9i6D-gS7D)

How beautiful are thy breasts, my sister, my spouse! Thy breasts are tnore beautiful than wine, and the sweet smell oJ thy ointments aboue all aromatical spices (Cant. 4.ro). Every fragrant perfume gives pleasure to the sense of smell. And here we must understand the text to refer to those perfumes which, as we have learned, breathe from the Scriptures. Noah, for example, offered a sacrifice to God, and the Lord smelled a stueet sat)our (Gen. 8.zr). Sacrifice, therefore, brings a sweet savor to God; and thus later on under the old Law many sacrifices were oflered to Him, sacrifices of propitiation, thanksgiving, purification, and for sin. These then are the perfumes of the texi: holocausts and burnt-offerings, partial offerings of things consecrated to God, the breast of the sacrificial animal, the lobe of the liver, the kidney fat, frankincense, wheaten flour dampened with oil, incense of various compositions-and all the other ways in which the worship of God is expressed by fire. All of these must be counted in the list of perfumes. When we hear that the bride's fragrance is aboae all aro-

which was manifested in each one of them. This is clear from the great saying of the Prophet: I will not tafte calues out of thy house: nor he godls aut ol thy flocfr,s. I shall not eat the flesh of bullocks or drinftthe blood of goats (Pr.49.9, 13).

There have been all kinds o[ animal sacrifices. Nonetheis one thing further which you are commanded here in the spiritual meaning of the text, namely the necessity of sacrificing your passions. A sacrifice to God is an affiicted spirit: a contrite and humbled heart God uill not despise (Ps. 5o.19). This is the way we ofier our sacrifice of praise which gives glory to Him Who smells the savor of our offering. So it is then that the soul that breathes a sweet spiritual fragrance, in the manner of Paul who was the good odour of Christ (z Cor. z.r5), surpasses all the aromatical spices of the old Law. She becornes fragrant throughout her entire life, breathing the myrrh of holiness and an incense variously mixed and compounded of all the virtues; and thus she comes to delight the nostrils of her Spouse in an odour of sweetness. And thus the divine senses, as Solomon speaks of them, in comparing the material spices of the old Law, preless there

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fers that pure and spiritual fragrance which has been distilled from all the virtues, saying: And the smell of thy ointments aboue all aromatical spices.

56. The Honeycomb (lbld., 957D-96oD)

The text which follows enhances the bride's praise, attributing to her a wealth of spiritual gifts as a result of her prayer and devotion. When the book of Proverbs bids the disciple of Wisdom to go to the bee (and from the disciples you can surely guess who the Master is), it says: Go to the bee and learn that she is a worker.u' He proclaims her work as most important, since kings as well as lowly citizens use her labors as a means to health. And he says that the bee is loved and esteemed by everyone, because despite the weakness of her powers, she holds wisdom high and hence is always proposed as the model of the life of perfection. She has been preferred, it says,oo because she has honored wisdom. The lesson for us here is that we ought not despise any

teaching of piety, but, as we fly over the meadow of the inspired doctrines, we ought to gather from each one something for our store of wisdom. Thus we may mould within ourselves a honeycomb, as it were, storing this sweet product in our hearts as it were in a hive, and with the various doctrines fashioning in our memory storehouses, just like the different cells in the wax, that cannot be destroyed. |ust like the bee whose honeycomb is sweet and whose sting does not prick, we should constantly be busy in the important labor of virtue. It busies itself indeed by exchanging the labors of this life for eternal blessings, and offering its own toils for

225 FROM GLORY TO GLORY the health of kings and people.o' In this way too the soul attracts the Bridegroom, and is an object of admiration to the angels, perfecting her power in weakness by honoring

wisdom. This discourse on the wisdom of the bee offers a good example of the value of instruction and diligent toil. Indeed, the varied distribution of God's spiritual gifts is always in proportion to the efforts of those who seriously labor. Hence the Spouse says to the bride: Your heart is full of the honeycombs of different spiritual doctrines, and it is from your heart's good treasure that you draw the honeyed drops of the Christian message, that the Word may be for you as milk and honey. So, thy lips, my sPouse, drop a honeycomb, honey and milftare under thy tongue (Cant. 4.rr). The divine message is so prepared that it does not answer the same needs in all who listen to it, but it is adapted to the capacities of the audience. It is suited both to the more perfect as well as to infants: to the perfect it is honey, to infants milk. Thus did Paul preach: the new-born babes he nursed with the softer elements of doctrine, and to those who were perfect he spoke the message of wisdom in mystery' hidden from all ages, inaccessible to the powers of this world. This is the mixture of milk and honey which He says is under the bride's tongue; and by this He refers to the hidden treasure of doctrine and its adaptability. For the man who knows how to speak to every sort of person and has under his tongue the varied power of the divine word, he it is who can offer to each according to his capacities what each one needs in good season.

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57. The Garment of Virtue (ibid., 96oD-96rC)

After thus praising the bride's mourh and tongue, the Spouse passes on to even greater encomia, saying: The smell

of tlty garments as tlre smell of franftincense (Cant. 4.rr). The underlying meaning of rhis text is an insrruction to men on the goal of perfection. For the aim of the life of virtue is to become like God; and this is the reason why the virtuous take great pains to cultivate purity of soul and freedom from the passions, so that the form, as it were, of transcendent Being might be revealed in them because of their more perfect life. Now the life of virtue is by no means everywhere the same and uniform. Rather, it is like the way the craft of weaving makes a garment by fitting togerirer many pieces of cloth, each made up of many strands, some stretched

straight and others drawn crosswise against them. So too many elements must cooperate to produce the life of virtue, till the perfect life is woven from all of them. The divine Apostle Paul tells us of the various strands that must compose tlre texture of our purc works, when he speaks of charity, ioy, peace, long-swffering, goodness, and all the rest (Gal. 5.zz). In these we must clothe ourselves when we exchange this eartlily and corruprible garment for heavenly incorruptibility. And so the Spouse finds His bride's garment acceptable, comparing its odor to the fragrance of frankincense. yet earlier He had said that the odor of her ointments were aboue all aromatical spices; thus this passage would seem to suggest a diminution in praise. For whereas before she was placed above all spices, now she is compared to only one of

FROM GLORY TO GLORY the Word says: The fragrance of thy

them, since garments is like the smell of frankincense. But the offering of frankincense is in a certain sense particularly consecrated to God's worship. Hence, even though she had earlier been judged tobe aboue all aromatical spices, she is rightly honored now by being compared to one, the one that is dedicated to God. And so the spiritual meaning of our passage is as follows: The clothing of your virtue, my bride, imitates the divine perfection and has become like the transcendent Godhead because of your purity and integrity. And such is the fragrance of your divine garments that they may be compared with frankincense that is consecrated to the worship of God.

58. The Carden Enclosed (ibid., 96rC-g6+C) Once again, in the text which follows, we learn from His praise what it means to be the sister and the spouse of the Lord. He says: A garden enclosed is nty sister, my spouse (Cant. 4.rz). Does anyone lay claim to be the spouse of the

Lord, because he is closely united to Him, or His sister,because, in the words of the Gospel, he does His will I Then he must become a flourishing garden, having within himself the beauty of all kinds of trees. There must be the sweet fig, the fruitful olive, the lofty palm, the blossoming vine. He must have no thorn bush or fleabane; these must be replaced by the cypress and the myrtle.62 It was such a garden that the mighty David knew how to cultivate, and the profound Isaias. The iust, saysDavtd, shall flourish lifte the Palftz tree (Ps. 9r.r3). And again: But l, as a fruitful oliue tree in the hoase of the Lord (Ps. 5r.ro). . . ;

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and Tlty wile as a fruit't'ul uine (Ps. r2T3). In another prophet a blessing is pronounced on the man who rests under his fig tree (Mrcheas 4.4). And it is Isaias who tells us that instead of the shrub, the fir tree, and instead of the nettle, he says the myrtle shall come up (Is.s-1,.B). It is not necessary for me to explain in detail all the hidden meanings of these trees introduced by the Prophets for our instruction. It is clear to everyone what is meant by the sweet fruit of the fig tree, ripened from very sour juice. In the beginning it is sour and inedible, but later on it becomes a very pleasant fruit and delightful to all the senses of the soul. Consider also the bounty we receive by the cultivation of the olive. At first, in the autumn, it contains a sharp and bitter juice. But later by proper care and maturation it is transformed into the true olive: and this supplies fuel for light, eases pain, relaxes from exertion, gladdens the head, and brings assistance in the confict for all those who exercise themselves in accordance with the law. Notice too how the palm tree makes it difficult for thieves to reach its fruit, and keeps its treasure on high, and does not bring it close to earth. Consider the charm of the vine, the fragrance of the cypress and the sweetness of the myrtle. Anyone who considers them seriously will clearly see their meaning when they are taken allegorically in reference to the life of virtue. For it is with such trees and plants that the flourishing and well-kept garden is filled. In addition, our garden is closed in on all sides by the fence of the Commandments, so that no thief or wild beast can gain entrance to it. Closed in on all sides by the paling of the Commandments, it cannot be reached by the solitary wild boar or the boar out of the utood (Ps. 7gr}. Whoever is such a fortified

FROM GLORY TO GLORY garden, he is the spouse and sister of Him Who soul:

I

229

says

to the

garden enclosed is my sister, lny sPoase (Cant. 4.rz).

59. The Fountain Sealed Up (ibid.,96aC-9658)

But our garden also needs a fountain, that the grove may constantly flourish, irrigated forever by its water. And so in His praise of His bride, He adds a fountain to the garden, saying: A garden enclosed , a f ountain sealed up (Cant. 4.n) . Proverbs teaches us the meaning of this fountain by way of an allegory: Let thy founlain of ruater be sweet and to thyself alone, and let no stranger be partafrer with thee (Prov. 5.6-t7).u" Here the text forbids anyone else from wasting the fountain's water. So too in our former text strangers are not at all allowed to partake of the fountain as is implied in the word seaLed up, which means the same as "under guard." Thus the sense of the text is as follows: the fountain, in my view, correctly refers to the intellectual faculty of the soul, because of all the ideas that are constantly bubbling and

welling up from it. But the actual movement of thought occurs when it is attracted towards things that are advantageous for us, thus ofiering us cooperation in the attainment of the good. Now when a person turns the energy of his thoughts towards sin, then he is wasting the stream of water on strangers. Thanks to our wicked thoughts, the thorny path of life flourishes by being watered, and the better plants dry up and wither since their roots receive no nourishment from

the irrigation of good thoughts. Now a seal guards the inviolability of whatever it protects, because the seal scares off the thief. What is unstolen remains

23o

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FROM GLORY TO GLORY

inviolate for the master. In our text, then, we would seem to have the highest praise bestor,ved on the bride, inasmuch as her mind remains untouched by the eneml, protected in its purity and integrity. It is purity which seals up this fountain for its Master: the light and transparent quality of her heart is not soiled by the slime of wicked thoughts. To make my meaning clearer to everyone, let me put it another way. Some things in us are truly our own, as, for example, the properties of the soul. Other things we acquire as our own-I mean external things, things connected with the body-under the mistaken impression that these things which do not belong to us are our own. Indeed, what does the spiritual substance of the soul have in common with crass matter ? That is why Proverbs counsels us not to waste the fountain of our thoughts on things foreign to us, that is, on things of the body and external things; rather, it should be turned on our own garden, to water the plant of God. And this plant, we have seen, refers to the virtues; for if the intellectual faculty of our soul occupies itself with them and does not flow off to anything external, then will it be impressed with a disposition towards the good and sealed with the stamp of truth.

sdffron, sueet cane and cinnamon, and every sort of frankinccnse, and rnyrrh and aloes, and all the chief perf umes (Cant. 4.r3-r4). According to the blessing pronounce d by the Psalmist, the bride, with the divine assistance, has kept all these elevations within her heart, proceeding always 'frorn strength to strength. Now, at a more perfect stage of her progress, the words that issue from her mouth are called a paradise of pomegranates. And very aptly is the word "issue" used in accordance with the underlying idea.uu For that which issues proceeds from a sender to a receiver. And we may take a lesson from the habitual use of this word in the Gospels; for the Word gives the title Apostles to those who "issue forth" to proclaim the truth. Now what is it that issues forth from the bride 's mouth ? It must of course be the me ssage of faith; and when this is received it becomes a paradise planted in the hearts of those who hearken to it. A grove that is thickly planted with trees is accustomed to be called a paradise.

6o. The

Paradise of

the Soul (ibid., 968D-p6qB)

Thoa sendest lorth frorn thy mouth, He says, a paradise ol And the meaning of this text is as follows: The words that come forth from your mouth are like a garden of pomegranate trees. The pomegranate tree produces a variety of fruit, cypress with spifrenard,

ponz€granates (Cant. 4.ry).un

6r.

231

The Pomegranate (lbid., g6g8-glz4\)

Now we should like to learn the types of plants which the Word cultivates in the souls of those who believe; the text calls the trees, which the Word produces, pomegranates, and it is these that issue forth from the mouth of the bride. The pomegranate tree makes a thief despair: its branches are lined with thorns, and its fruit is covered and protected with a rind that is extremely bitter and harsh to the taste. But when the fruit ripens in due season, if you tear ofi the rind and look inside you will see a fruit that is sweet and attractive looking, quite pleasant and honey-sweet to the

I t

{ !

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232

taste, and a joy to the palate with its winelike flavor. Hence, if we would take a lesson from the text, I think that the message that issues from the bride's mouth, as a paradise of

GLORY

43

that the Scripture is here in mystery teaching us a lesson with regard to virtue.

pomegranatcs to the souls of those who are attentive, teaches

tlat

we ought never to grow soft in the indulgence and luxury of this life, but that we should choose the way of life that has become hardened by continence. In this way the fruit of virtue will never be accessible to thieves, protected by the harsh covering of continence ; and surrounded by a severe and rigorous way of life, as though by the pricks of thorns, it will sting those who approach it bent on an evil

us

Purpose.

But when the season allows us to enjoy it, the pomegranate offers us the combined pleasure of every kind of fruit. And the taste is not like that of peaches or dates or any other similar kind of fruit. But all sorts of difierent kinds of perfumes are found in its fruit. There is the h"ppy blend of cypress with spiftenard (Cant.4.13), the one being warm and the other fragrant. Now heat is not praiseworthy in itself, as for example when it is the source of a fetid odor. But purity, by its fragrance, must cooperate with warmth in testifying that we are fervent with the Spirit and purified of all unpleasant heat.

Here too among these fruits we can find other perfumes, as spiftenard and safrron, says the text (Cant. 4.r4). From what

we have said we already understand the meaning of the fragrance of spikenard. And so now we need only explain the symbolism of the saffron. Those who have studied the characteristics of this fower state that it is midway between heat and cold, avoiding any excess in either. Thus it would seem

62. The Symbol of Sctfron (ibid., 97zlvC)

All virtue

stands midway between

two evils, which conin a defect or an excess of the good. Thus it is claimed that fortitude is the mean between timidity and audacity, sist

and generosity the mean between stinginess and lavishness. Timidity and stinginess are both called vices because they fall short of the norm; lavishness and audacity, because they go too far beyond it. Virtue, then, they consider to be the mean between two extremes.uu In this light, then, the passage on the safiron would have something to do with virtue, and this would be consonant with the moderare property of the ffower; and this is interpreted as referring to rhe avoidance of excess or defect in the habit of virtue. Though this might seem to be a more popular interpretation, I should say that the symbol of saffron is more properly taken as referring to our doctrine of faith. The saffron is in reality three fowers which are hidden underneath the external petals. The outermost fower has a cloudy color; and when the outside layer of petals is peeled ofI, we find three distinct flowers, which are both fragrant and useful from a medicinal point of view. Each of these, again, is hidden beneath its own petals, and all three are alike in size, beauty, fragrance, and properties. And thus all three flowers are in all things seen to be one, in beauty, as I have said, fragrance and medicinal potency. But alongside of these grow up three other fowers that are yellow-colored,67 but completely devoid

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of all mcdicinai value. Those who do not know might make their fine color pick the false flower instead of the true one. And the same thing is done today by men who err in regard to faith, when they choose falsely contrived errors instead of sound doctrine. Of these two interpretations I will leave it to my hearers to choose as they will, either one, or both. In a certain sense they come to the same thing. For the one suggests the meaning of perfection, the other the possession of the divine nature. There is, of course, no perfection outside of the God-

of the fruits in our text with some hidden significance. It does not actually grow on a pomegranate tree ; the mouth of the bride does not bring forth gardens in any material sense. Rather, it is mentioned as a symbol of some deeper meaning, as symbolic of all those qualities which contribute to the eulogy of the bride. Hence I feel that we should not neglect the tales that are told of the cinnamon, or anything else which it may seem good to add in this connection. From all that has been said, then, we could gather together all the details which would contribute to the glorification of virtue, if each of the points discussed is taken symbolically as pointing to the perfection of the Christian life. Thus I think we can discover the role of cinnamon in the soul, in view of our instructive discussion of it. When you are boiling with desire or on fire with anger, reason extinguishes the passions. Again, if in the sleep of this life you put the sober cinnamon of reason into your mouth (like the sleepless and ever watchful angels), you will bring forth clearly and accurately the meaning of what is said. Thus by the truth of your speech will you imitate the vigilant angels, who are never forced to wander from the truth by the imagination. In this way it can be said that cinnamon wells up f-- you mouth. It cools the heat of desire and the boiling of the heart's wrath; and every dreamlike fantasy and confusion in this life are purified by reason.

234

a mistake, and because of

head.

fi.

The Symbol of Cinnamon (ibid.,

It is said that cinnamon

97zD-97C)

quite varied and diversified applications, because of an innate Property it has, and some of these would seem to pass belief. For example, it is said that if you merely drop some of this spice into a kettle of boiling water, the water will immediately get cold. If you bring it into a heated bath, it will make the warm atmosphere chilly.ot It also has the power to destroy any life that develops from putrefaction. Indeed, they relate a good many things of the same sort about this spice that would seem to go beyond our power of belief. For instance, they say that if you put cinnamon into the mouth of a sleeping person, he cannot help answering questions put to him even though he remains asleep. Even though he is asleep, he

will

possesses

give you sensible and accurate answers.

Now it would be rash and overcredulous to Put complete faith in these assertions without making an investigation of their truth. In any case, cinnamon is mentioned in the list

235

64. The Well of LiuingLVater (ibid., 9778-D)* We are familiar with these descriptions of the divine esof life from the holy Scriptures. Thus the prophet, speaking in the pe rson of God, says: T hey haue f or-

sence as a source

I saken me, the f ountain of liuing uater (ler. z.13). And again, the Lord says to the Samaritan woman: lf thou didst ftnoat the git't of God, and utho he is that saith to thee, Giue me to drinft: thou perhaps uouldst haue asfted of him, and he uould ltaue giuen thee liuing water (lohn 4.rz). And again He says: lf any man thirst,let him corne ,o me, and drinft. He that belieaeth in me, as the scripture saith, Oat of his belly shall flow riuers of liuing uater. Now tltis he said of the Spirit a.,hich they should receiue, who belieaed in hirn

(fohn

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46

78nil.

Here in all these places by liuing water is meant the divine

nature. So too in our text (Cant. 4.r5) the infallible Word declares that the bride is a tuell of liuing waters that have flowed down from Libanus. Now here is a very strange paradox. All wells hold still water; only in the bride is there said to be running water. She has the depth of a well together with the constant flow of a river. Now how can we really do justice to the wonders revealed here in the symbol that is applied to the bride I It would seem that she has no further height to reach now that she has been absolutely compared to the very archetype of all beauty. Very closely does she imitate His Source in her own, His Life in hers, that living Water by hers. God's Word has life, and so too does the soul that receives Him. And this Water flows from God, as He, the Source, explained when He said From God I proceeded and came (fohn 8.42). And the bride embraces and holds what flows into the well of her soul, and thus she becomes a storehouse of that liuing uater that flows, or, rather, rushes, down from Libanus, as the Word tells us.

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65. The Food of the Bridegroom (ibid., sermon ro, 98jBe888)

Let my beloued, she says, come down into his garden, and eat the fruit of ltis apple trees (Cant 5.r). Here is a cry from the heart ! Here is a fine, high-minded soul, surpassing all the bounds of generosity! And whom does she invite to enjoy her fruit I For whom does she prepare this banquet out of her own store ? Whom does she call to feast on what she has prepared? Him, from Whom and by Whom and in Whom all things exist (Col. r.r7), Who gives sustenance to everyone in due season (Luke o.4z), Who opens His hand and fills with blessing euery liuing creature (Ps. 144.16), Who descends as the bread of heaven (John 6.4r), gives life to the world, and from His own Source pours life upon every creature. It is for Him that the bride sets her table. And the table is a garden, planted with living trees. We are the trees, and the food we offer Him is the salvation of our souls, as He Himself said when He took His fiil of our human exisG ence: My food is to tlte ruill of my Father (John 4;.1. And the object of the divine will is clear, for He uill haue all men to be saued and to come to the ftnoruledge of t/te trutlt (r Tim. 2.4). It is our salvation, then, that is the food prepared for Him. The fruit is our free will, which offers God our souls, as it were, on a branch to pluck. Here too we should consider that earlier it was the bride who enjoyed the fruit of the apple, saying: And his fruit uas stueet to rny palate (Cant. 2.3). Here, however, she herself becomes the sweet, ripe fruit, offered to the Husbandman for His enjoyment. Now the phrase, Let my beloued come dou.tn (Cant. 5.r),

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is a command, similar in construction to the prayer, Halloued be tlty name, and thy uill be done. lust as rhe construction of these two expressions denotes a prayer, so it is with the prayer of the bride, Let him come down, as she indicates to God the abundant fruit of her perfection. His coming down, then, suggests the operation of divine love. For we cannot be exalted to the Most High unless the Lord stoop to the humble and exalt the meeft (Ps. 146.6). Hence the soul that is rising to heaven calls upon the assistance of the transcendent Godhead and begs Him to come down from His immensity and mingle with us here below. And His reply comes through the Prophet : W hilst thou art still crying, Here I arn (Is.58.9). Even before the bride has made her prayer, He hears her petition and attends to the preparation of her heart (Ps. ro.r7 fHebr.]). He comes to her garden which the south uind blows through (Cant. qfi); He plucks the fruit of her aromatical spices and is filled with the fruit of her virtues. Then He tells of His feasting, saying to the bride: I haae come doun into the garden, O *y sister, my spouse,I haue gathered my myrrh with my aromatical spices: I haae eaten nty bread uith my ltoney,l /taue drunft my uine uith my milft: eat, my lriends, and drinft, and be inebriated, my brothers (Cant. 5.r).

66. Sober Intoxication (ibid., g89B-gg2B) Eat, rny friends, and drinft, and be inebriated, my brothers (Cant. 5.r). For one who is familiar with the mysteries of the Gospel there will appear no difference between this text and the words used in the mystic initiation of the Apostles.

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For there too does He say: Eat and drinft. Now the exhortation to the brethren in the present text to become inebriatcd might seem to many to go much further than the Gospel. But anyone who examines both texts carefully will 6nd that this text is quite in harmony with that of the Gospel. For the command that is here given to the brethren in words is, in the Gospel, transformed into deed. All intoxication causes the mind, overwhelmed with wine, to go into an ecstasy. Hence what is urged in our text actually is realized in the Gospel through the divine food and drink. And this constantly recurs insofar as there is a continual ecstasy in this food and drink, that is, there is a transformation from a worse to a better condition. Thus do they become inebriated, as the Prophet tells us, uith the plenty of God's house, they who drinftof the torrent ol His pleasure (Pr.:l.q). In this way the mighty David became intoxicated and went out of himself : he saw, while in ecstasy, that divine beauty which no mortal can behold, and cried out in those famous words: Euery man is a liar (Ps. rr5.rr), thus giving us some hint of that inefiable treasure. So too Paul, the new Benjantin (Ps. 67.28), while in ecstasy, saicl: trVhether ue be transported in mind, it is to God, for this ecstasy was a movement towards the Godhead; or wltether ue be sober,it is for you (z Cor.5.r3). Similarly in his words to Festus he showed that he was not mad,but spoke words ol truth and soberness (Acts 26.25). I am aware also that the blessed Peter experienced this sort of intoxication, hungry and drunk as he was at the same time. For even before real food was brought to him, being hwngry and desirous to taste, while his household taere preparing (Acts ro.ro), he experienced that divine and sober

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inebriation. And thus he went out of himself and beheld that symbol of the Gospel, the linen sheet let doun by the four corners, wherein were all manner of men in innumerable forms of birds, .t'our-footed beasts and creeping things, and beasts of all different shapes, according to the various kinds of cults. Of these the Word orders Peter to sacrifice all animals and irrational creatures, so that after they were purified, what remained would be edible. And this meant that when the message of salvation is transmitted purely, as the voice of God has told us more than once,Tltat uhich God hatlr cleansed is not common (Acts ro.r5). And this message is given three times, that we might learn that in the first voice God the Father purifies, in the second it is God the Son, and similarly in the third it is He Who purifies all that is unclean, God the Holy Spirit. This then is the inebriation to which the Lord exhorts His table-companions, and it is through this that the soul's divine ecstasy takes place. Rightly does the Lord urge those who are close to Him by their virtuous life (but not those who stand afar off) : Eat, my friends, and drinft, and be inebriated, my brothers (Cant. 5.r). He who eats and drinks unu)orthily, eateth and drinfteth judgment to hirnself (r Cor. rr.z8). And rightly does the Lord address as His brothers those who are worthy of this food; for whoever does His will, the Word calls His brother and His sister and His mother (Mark n.50).

67. Warchful Sleep (ibid., 99zC-993D)

in

Sleep usually follows drinking, and this way the banqueters can promote their good health by allowing time

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for digestion. Thus after her banquet the bride, too, is overcome with sleep. But this is indeed a strange sleep and foreign to nature's custom. In natural sleep the sleeper is not wide awake, and he who is wide awake is not sleeping. Sleeping and waking are contraries, and they succeed and follow one another. But in this case there is a strange and contradictory fusion of opposites in the same state. For 1 sleep, she says, and my heart tuatcheth (Cant. 5.2). What meaning ought we to take from these words I Sleep is the image of death. All the body's sensory perception is suspended: in sleep, sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch do not perform their function. In sleep bodily tension is relaxed, a man's worries are forgotten and fears are put to rest, anger is calmed; so long as sleep has control over the body, it relaxes the strain of those who are in grief and makes them unaware of any evil. From what we have said, then, when the bride proudly declares, I sleep and my heart watcheth (Cant. 5.2), we learn that she has risen higher than ever before. For indeed, so long as reason lives alone within itself and is undisturbed by the senses, it is as though the body were overcome with sleep and exhaustion. Then may it truly be said that the sight is inactive and asleep, when the soul despises such things make an impression on the eyes of litde children. And I am not only referring to material things such as gold, silver and precious stones, which excite the concupiscence ol the eyes (r John z.16), but also to all those heavenly phenomena, such as the shining stars, the orb of the sun, and the ever changing face of the moon, and anything else which gives pleasure to the eyes-because none of these will abide forever, but will keep moving and passing with the cycle of time. as

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The contemplation of our true good makes us despise all these things; and so the eye of the body sleeps. Anything that the eye reveals does not attract the perfect soul, because by reason it looks only to those things which transcend the visible universe. So too the sense of hearing is dead and does not function, because the soui is absorbed in things that surpass speech.

With regard to our more animal sensations, the soul keeps far off from them as though they were a foul odor. I am referring to the sense of smell sniffing at perfumes; the taste that is devoted to the cult of the belly; and also the sense of touch, that blind and servile function that nature, I think, made only for those who cannot see. When all of these have been lulled into inactivity by a kind of sleep, the hearr's functioning becomes pure, the reason looks up to heaven, unshaken and unperturbed by the motion of the senses. Man enjoys two types of pleasure. One is spiritual and without passion; the other occurs in the body and derives from passion. And of these two the one which the free will chooses is the one that holds sway. Thus if we look only to the senses, attracted by the pleasure which they produce in the body, we would live our whole lives without rasting the divine delights, because the higher can somehow be overshadowed by what is lower. But for those whose desires incline them towards God a good awaits which nothing can overshadow, and they will come to feel that they must avoid all things that bewitch the senses. Thus rhe soul, enjoying alone the contemplation of Being, will not awake for anything that arouses sensual pleasure. After lulling to sleep every bodily motion, it receives the vision of God in a divine wakefulness with pure and naked intuition.

FROM GLORY TO GLORY 68. Angelic Vigilance (ibid., sermon

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The Lord has given His disciples many precepts by which their minds might shake off all material elements, like so much clay, and thus rise to a desire for the Transcendent. And one of these is that all who are seriously concerned with the life of heaven must conquer sleep; they must be constantly awake in spirit, driving off,like a kind of drowsiness, the deceiver of souls and the destroyer of truth. By drowsiness and sleep here I am referring to those dreamlike fantasies which are shaped by those who are submerged in the deceptions of this life: I mean public office, money, infuence, external show, the seduction of pleasure, love of reputation and enjoyment, honor, and all the other worldly things which, by some sort of illusion, are sought after vainly by those who live without reflection. For all these things will pass away with the flux of time; their existence is mere seeming; they are not what we think they are, nor do they even abide constantly in the conception we have of them. No sooner do they appear than they must pass away. They are like waves that raise their crests above the water, and for a moment are given a certain substance by the action of the winds; but the dignity they have cannot be permanent, for soon after they are raised by the wind's blast, they are restored once more to their place and reveal nothing but the flat surface of the sea. Hence, that our minds may not be subject to such illusions, we are bidclen to shake off that heavy sleep from the eyes of our soul, lest by our attraction towards the unsubstantial we slip away from those which have true being and subsistence.

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This is why our Lord warns us to be vigilant: Irt your loins be girt, and lamps burning in your hands (Luke 12.35). For then the light reflected in our eyes will banish sleep, the loins pinched by the cincture will help the body resist it, and the sense of effort will not permit the relaxation of sleep. Surely the lesson revealed by these symbols is clear. The man who has girt himself with self-control lives in the light of a clean conscience, and his life is lit up by the lamp of sincerity. Thus under the rays of truth his soul remains sleepless and undeceived, and he is not bemused by those vain dreams we spoke of. If we achieve this, as the Word directs, we shall enter an angelic way of life. For the divine command likens us to angels, as for example when He says: And yow yourselues lifte to men uho tuait for their lord, uhen he sltall return lrom the wedding; that when lte cometh and ftnocfteth, they rnay oPen to him irnmediately (Luke n.36).It is the angels who receive the Lord as He returns from the wedding: they sit vigilant before the gates of heaven, that, when He rises from the wedding, the King of glory might enter in once more, returning to that beatitude beyond the stars. Hence, according to the psalm, as a bridegroom coming out of his bride chamber (Ps. r8.6), he has espoused us to Himself by that mystical rebirth-we were the maiden that committed fornication tuith idols (Ezech. 417)-vansforming our nature into virginal incorruptibility. The marriage rites are now completed; the Church is wedded to the Word, as ]ohn has said, He that hath the bride, is the bridegroorn (|ohn 3.zg); the Church is taken into the mystical bridal chamber, and the angels await the return of their King while

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he leads the Church to that blessedness that befits her nature.To

We too, He has said, should be like the angels. Their lives are passed far from sin and temptation; they are constantly ready to welcome the Master's final coming. And so too should we make ourselves ready for his call, keeping awake by the doors of our dwellings, whenever He should come and knock. Blessed are those sert)ants, He says, whom the Lord when he cometh, shall find so doing (Luke 12.37).

69. The Bubbling Spring (ibtd., ggTO-roooC) The path of those who rise to God is, as you see, unlimited. But how does the grace that the soul continually achieves become in turn the principle of a higher good I From the words spoken to the bride, we should have supposed that there would be a halt in her progress towards the heights. For after such an assurance of perfection, what more could anyone hope for ? But then we realize that she is still inside (Cant.5.3) and has not yet gone out of doors; she does not yet enjoy that vision face to lace,but is still making progress in her participation in good merely by the sounds she hears. Now the lesson we are taught here is that for those who are ever advancing towards higher things there applies the saying of the Apostle: If any man thinfrthat he frnoweth any thing, he ltath not yet ftnoun as he ought to frnout (r Cor. 8.2). For up to this point, the soul is aware of only so much as she has understood. Yet what she still does not know is infinitely more than what she has comprehended. That is why, though the Bridegroom often reveals Himself to the

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soul, she never sees him directly, though He keeps assuring the bride by His voice that she will. To make this idea a little clearer, I shall illustrate it by a comparison. It is just as if you could see that spring which Scripture tells us rose from the earth at the beginning in such quantities that it watered the entire face of the earth (Gen. z.ro ff.). As you came near the spring you would marvel, seeing that the water was endless, as it constantly gushed up and poured forth. Yet you could never say that you hacl seen all the water. How could you see what was still hidden in the bosom of the earth I Hence no matter how long you might stay at the spring, you would always be beginning to see the water. For the water never stops flowing, and it is always beginning to bubble up again. It is the same with one who fixes his gaze on the infinite beauty of God. It is constantly being discovered anew, and it is always seen as something new and strange in comparison with what the mind has already understood. And as God continues to reveal Himself, man continues to wonder; and he never exhausts his desire to see more, since what he is waiting for is always more magnificent, more divine, than all that he has already seen. So too in our text the bride is in wonder and amazement at what she is beginning to see, yet she never, for all that, puts an end to her yearning for further vision.

7o. Tlte Nocturnal Dew (ibid., roooC-roo4C) Open to me, my sister, my loue, my doue, my perlect one: for my head is full of dew, and my locfrs tuith the drops of night (Cmt. 5.2).Our interpretation will help you to grasp

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247 FROM GLORY TO GLORY the meaning of this text. Moses' vision of God began with

light (Exod. r9.r8); afterwards God spoke to him in a cioud (Exod. zo.zt). But when Moses rose higher and became more perfect, he saw God in the darkness (Exod. 24.r5-fi). Now the doctrine we are taught here is as follows. Our initial withdrawal from wrong and erroneous ideas of Gocl is a transition from darkness to light. Next comes a closer awareness of hidden things, and by this the soul is guided through sense phenomena to the world of the invisible. And this awareness is a kind of cloud, which overshadows all appearances, and slowly guides and accustoms the soul to look towards what is hidden. Next the soul makes progress through all these stages and goes on higher, and as she leaves below all that human nature can attain, she enters within the secret chamber of the divine knowledge, and here she is cut ofi on all sides by the divine darkness. Now she leaves outside all that can be grasped by sense or by reason, and the only thing left for her contemplation is the invisible and the incomprehensible. And here God is, as the Scriptures tell us in connection with Moses: But Moses uent to the darfrcloud wherein God was (Exod. zo.zr). Now that we have considered this, we must examine how our text is connected with what we have said. The bride used tobe blacft (Cant. r.4), when she was darkened with obscure doctrines. And then the sun shone, the sun that warms the seeds cast rootless upon the rocks by temPtation. She has been overcome by the powers that war within her; she has not kept her vineyard (Cant. r.5); and because she did not understand herself, she has led herds of goats to pasture instead of sheep. But when she has torn herself from her attachment to sin, and by that mystic kiss she yearns to bring her

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mouth close to the fountain of light (Cant. 4.r5), then does she become beautiful, radiant with the light of truth, having washed away the dark stain of ignorance. She is compared to a steed (Cant. r.8) because of the speed of her progress, to a dove (Cant. z.ro) because of the agility of her mind. Like a steed she races through all she perceives by sense or by reason; and she soars like a dove until she comes to rest with longing under the shade of the apple tree (Cant. 2.3). That which overshadows her the text calls an apple tree instead of a cloud. But then she is encompassed by a divine night (Cant. 3.r), during which her Spouse approaches but does not reveal Himself. But how can that which is invisible reveal itself in the nightl By the fact that He gives the soul some sense of His presence, even while He eludes her clear apprehension, concealed as He is by the invisibility of His nature. What then is the mystic initiation which the soul experiences during that nightl The Word touches the door (Cant. 5.2); and by the door here we may understand man's reason in its search for what is hidden; it is through reason that what we seek can make its entrance. Truth, then, stands outside the door of our souls, because we merely know in part,as the Apostle says (r Cor. r3'rz), and knocks at the door of reason with symbols and mysteries, saying: Open. And by His urgent message He suggests how we must open the door, by handing us certain keys, that is, the beautiful words of our text, by which we may open the lock. The keys which can open up the mysteries are precisely those expressions like sister, loue, doue, perfect one. If you will open the door, He tells us, to lift up the gares of your soul that the King of glory might enter in (ps. 23.7), you

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must become my sister by achieving my wishes in your soul, in accordance with the Gospel text where He says that those who live by His wishes are His brother and sister (Matth. rz.5o). Further you must come close to Truth and become its loue, so that nothing separates you from it; you must achieve perfection in the guise of a doue, that is, you must never fail or be deficient in all innocence and purity. Taking these titles, dear soul, as keys, open with them the door to Truth, becoming a sister, loue, doue, and perfect one. And the reward for receiving Me and taking Me into your house will be the dew of My head, with which I am filled, and the drops of the night which flow down from My locfrs (Cant.5.z). Here the dew, as we learn clearly from the Prophet, is a symbol of healing: Thy dew is their cure.tt But tlte drops of the night are connected with an idea we have considered earlier. When a man enters into the precinct of the hidden and invisible, it is impossible that he should encounter a storm or a torrent of illumination. Rather, it is sufficient if Truth merely whets our knowledge with some meagre and obscure ideas; and these spiritual drops flow through the saints and God's representatives. The locfts, in my view, are those which hang from the head of the universe, and they refer, in allegory, to the Prophets, the Evangelists and the Apostles. For all of these have become

rivers for us, drawing their water so far as they could from dark, hidden, and invisible treasuries. Even though everyone of these is full to overflowing with the vastness and depth of doctrine, they are merely drops of dew in comparison with the actual Truth. Paul was such a river. On the waves of thought he rose

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above the world to the third heauen,toParadise, to those secret and unutterable words. And though he swells like the sea with such great eloquence as he speaks, he shows us nonetheless that all his message is but a drop of dew in comparison

with the true Word, when he tells us: We ftnout in part, and ue proPhesy in part (r Cor. r3.9); and: If any man thinfr tltat he ftnoueth any tlting, he hath not yet ftnoun as he ought to ftnou (r Cor.8.z); and: I do not count myself to haue appre ltended (Phil. 3.13). Now if the deat and the drops that flow from His locks seem like rivers, seas and floods in comparison with our faculties, what ought we to think of the Fountain itself which has said: If any man thirst,let him come to me, and drinft (lohn 737). All of us here who are listening should try to form an idea of this wonder by taking a comparison from what we have said. Even if the dew drop were sufficient to produce great rivers, how could we ever conceive of the very river of the Godhead merely from this little drop ?

7t.

The Garment of the Flesh (ibid., rco4C-roo5C)

She says: I ltaue put ofr my garment, ltow shall I put it on? hsae ruashed my feet, hou shall I defle them? (Cant.5.3). Correctly did she hear her Spouse calling her to beHis sister anrT loue , doue and perf ect one , that in this way Truth might come and dwell in her soul. She did as she was commanded

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and removed her garment of skin (Gen. 3.zr), with which she clothed herself after her sin; she washed her feet of the dust with wliich she had been covered ever since she had returned to the earth after her sojourn in Paradise, when

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Earth thou art, and into earth thou

shalt return (Gen. 3.19). In this way then the bricle opened her soul to the Word by removing the veil before her heart, that is, her fesh. When I speak of the flesh I mean the old man, which the divine Apostle bids all to strip off and lay aside (Col. 3.9) who are about to wash away in the laver of the Word the dirt that clings to the soul's feet. Hence by stripping ofr the old man and tearing away the ueilbefore her heart, she made a passage for the Word. And when He enters, the soul makes Him her garment, as the

Apostle teaches us when he tells us to strip ofi the fleshly covering of the old man and put on the tunic created accordingto God in holiness and justice (Eph. a.za). And this garment, he tells us, is fesus. Now the bride says that she will never again put on the garment she has taken off, and that she is content with the one tunic, according to the precept given to the disciples, which she had put on when she was born again from on high. And this confirms the word of the Lord Who commands that those who are once dressed in the divine garment should not put on the garment of sin, or have two tunics instead of one (Mark 6.9; Matth. ro.ro; Luke 9.3),lest we wear two incompatible tunics at the same time. For what is there in common between the garment of darkness and the bright and immaterial one ? The divine law not only forbids us to have two tunics, but also to sew a patch on an old cloak (Mark z.zt); and this is to prevent the shame of the man who puts it on from growing worse, for the patch may not be able to stay on, and the rip in the old cloth may ge t worse and harder to mend. T he netu

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piecing, He says, tafteth away from the old, and there is made a greater rent (Mark z.zt), and through it what is shameful may be exposed. Thus the bride says: I haue put ofr my garment, how shall I pwt i, on? For the man who sees himself wearing the radiant tunic of the Lord, rhe one which he put on in purity and incorruptibility (like the one the Lord revealed in His transfigurarion on the mountain), will surely not allow himself to be clad in the poor and ragged cloak which the drunkard and the fornicator wear according to the

And surely you are not ignorant of this holy way on which the disciples are bidden to run, since we learn this from Him Who said I am the Way (John 14.6); and on this way we cannot walk unless we remove the covering of the dead man. This is the way on which the bride has come, in which the Lord washes the feet of all wlio walk on it and wipes them with the towel with which He is girt. Indeed, the Lord's cincture has the power to cleanse from sin: The Lord is clothed nith strength, and hath girded himself (Ps. 9z.r). Hence the bride, once she has lifted her feet upon the royal way, watches herself carefully, turning neither to the right nor to the left, for she does not want to soil her feet with mud by setting them down on either side of the road. You are, of course, familiar with the lesson we are taught here. The bride has taken off her sandals once and for all by Baptism. Now it is the proper function of the person baptizing to untie the thongs of the sandals, as fohn testifies when he says he is unable to do this in the case of the Lord. For how could |ohn have loosed the thong for One Who had never at all been bound by the thong of sin ? At any rate, the bride then washed her feet, after shaking off all earthly dust from her sandals. And she keeps her feet unsullied on the paved way, just as David did when he placed his feet upon the rock after he had waslred away the mud, saying by the Word: He brought nze out of the pit of misery and the mire of dre gs. And lte set my 'feet uPon a rocft, and directed lny stePs (Pr. Ag.:). Now the rock, we know, is the Lord; and He is light, truth, immortality and justice; and with these the spiritual highway is paved. And the man who does not turn off to either side keeps his feet unsullied by the mire of pleasure. These, then, are the ways, I think, by which the bride opens

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zz. The Symbol of Pure Feet (ibid., roo5C-roo8C)

I haue uaslted my feet, says rhe bride, hou shall I defile them? (Cant. 5.:). So too Moses, before walking on holy and enlightened ground, removed from his feet at the divine command the covering of dead skins (Exod. 3.5). And he is never again reported to have put his sandals on again. Even when he devised those priestly vestments according to the model he had seen on the Mounr, with gold, purple, white linen, blue, and scarlet, blending all these colors into the texture so that the combined beauty of all of them would shine forth-even then he designed no adornment for his feet. The adornment of the priest's foot consisted in its being completely free and bare of any covering whatsoever. For the priest must, of course, walk on holy ground, and here it is unlawful to walk with dead skins. Hence the Lord forbids His disciples to wear sandals, when He commands them not to walk in the path of the Gentiles, but walk on the road of holiness.

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her door to the Word. Her declaration that she will never again take up the mud she has cast aside, that she will never on this journey of life admit any earrhly defilement: this becomes an entrance for the sanctification of the soul that is in readiness. And the Lord is sanctification. And thus we have completed the interpretation of the text.

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one might have thought that the symbol of the myrrh referred to something purely accidental and indeliberate. But she tells us that her hands flowed with myrrh of their own accord (and the hands symbolize the effective operations of the soul) ; that is, there was a free and spontaneous mortification of all her bodily passions, and this is why it is said that

it filled all her fingers. For the text uses the word "fingers" to suggest all the clifierent sorts of activity connected with 73. The Myrrh of Penance (ibid., sermon 12, ror6croz4B)

I

rose up to oPen to my beloued: my hands dropped with myrrh, and my fingers tuere full of myrrh (Cant. 5.5). It is

impossible for the living Word ro be present in us-I mean that pure, invisible Spouse Who unites the soul to Himself by sanctity and incorruptibility-unless by the mortification of our bodies on earth we tear away the veil of the fesh, and in this way open the door to the Word that He may come and dwell with the soul. This is clear from the divine instrucrion of the Apostle as well as from the words just spoken by the bride. 1 arose up, she says, to open to my'beloued,and ihis I did by making my hands fountains of myrrh which fowed with spices, and showing that myrrh has filled my fingers. And by her words she shows us how she opened the door to her Spouse: Being buried with Him unto death by Baptism, I rose again. For the resurrection would have accomplished nothing had it not been preceded by a voluntary death. Now an indication that it was voluntary is the drop of myrrh that flows from her hands, and the fact that her fingers too are filled with this aromatic spice. For she says rhar the myrrh did not come to her hand from any other source; for otherwise

the practice of virtue. Hence the complete meaning of the text is as follows: I receivecl the power of resurrection by mortify-

ing my members on earthl this mortification I undertook willingly; the myrrh was not put into my hands by someone

from my own free will. Thus the same disposition of soui may be seen constantly in all my works of virtue, which the text calls "fingers." Among those who practice virtue, you may see some who have died to one passion, but are alive to others. So, for example, we see men who have mortified incontinence, but still cultivate pride or some inclination that clisfigures the soul, such as avarice, anger, ambition, love of honor, and the like. And if any of these are still alive in the soul, one cannot show one's 6ngers as lull of myrrh. For the mortification and removal of sin has not extenclecl to all our life. But when all the fingers have been filled with myrrh in this way, then the soul rises up ancl opens to the Spouse. Hence it would seem that the great Paul has rightly understood the words of his Master, Unless the grain be dissolved by death the sheaf cannot grow.tt This is the doctrine that he preaches to the Church: that death must precede life, and that it is impossible for life to be in a man unless it enter by way of death.t'

else, but flowed

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For our nature is made up of two parts. In one part it is spiritual, fine, and light; and in the other, thick, material, and heavy. Hence it must follow that each part has a proper motion which is not communicated to the other. The characteristic motion of the light and intellectual part is upwards; whereas the heavy, material part is always directed and carried downwards. But since their motions are by nature contrary, the one cannot function properly unless the other is diminished in its natural movement. And between the two motions stands our faculty of self-determination and free will, which can of itself make the weaker element srrong or the stronger element weak. The side to which it throws its support, carries the victory against the other. Thus in the Gospel the prudent and faithful steward is praised; this in my view, is our faculty of free will. It is

it defends the masrer's household, destroying his enemies; for our better inclinations thrive and grow

praised because

strong on their destruction. The wicked servant, however, is condemned, because consorting with drunkards he strikes and abuses the members of God's household (Matth. 24.4549). Virtue indeed gets beaten when vices flourish. And so we would do well to put into practice the saying of the Prophet, that we should set ourselves in the morning to put to deatlt all tlte wicftet of tlte land, so as to cut off t'rom the city of the Lord-and the city is the soul-all the wicked

thoughts that are the uorfters of iniquitl (Ps. roo.8); for if we destroy them, our better inclinations will thrive. In this way, then, we live by death, when of rhe rwo men that are within us, as the Prophet says, one is slain and the other is given life by tlie Word: I will ftill,he says, and I uill mafte to liue (Deut. 32.5il. Thus, roo, Paul by dying

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lived, in weakness and strength, though in chains pursued his course, in his poverty was rich, though having nothing possessed all, always bearing about in his body the mortification of lesus (z Cor. 4.ro). But we must return to our discussion, that it is through death that the soul rises again from death. If it does not die it will remain forever dead and incapable of life. By dying it comes alive and puts off all death. And this doctrine is supported by our present text, in which the bride says: I arose aP to open to my beloued: my hands dropped with myrrh, and my fingers ruere full of myrrh (Cant. S.S). No one who is familiar with Holy Scripture can doubt that myrrh is a symbol of death. But I know that some will think it right to ask for a clearer explanation of this doctrine, that is, how it is that death can raise us up from death. And so we shall answer this difficulty as best we can, treating the matter in logical order. The story of the creation bears witness to the fact that all that God created was aery good (Gen r.3r). And among these very good things was man. Or rather, he was fashioned in a beauty which far exceeded all other things. For what else could be as lovely as the image of incorruptible beauty I And if all things tuere aery good, and man was among them, indeed above them, then surely death had no place in man. For man would not have been beautiful if he had had within him the miserable and gloomy form of death. No, he was the image and lifreness of eternal iife, he was truly and exceedingly good, radiant with the luminous form of life. Man also kept the garden of God, and it teemed with life in the abundance of its bountiful trees. God's commandment was the law of life, promising that man would not die. And

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in the midst of the trees of the garden was one which was filled with life (however we may interpret the meaning of this tree), and its fruit was life. But with it was also a tree of death, whose fruit we are told is both good and evil. Now it was impossible for both of these trees to be in the middle ; for as soon as we grant that one was middle, we necessariiy must exclude the other. In any enclosed object we take as the accurate center the point that is equidistant from the

good and evil, subtly suggesting, I think, what the true nature of sin is. Surely it is pleasure which precedes everything that is done out of wickedness, and we cannot find a sin that is not connected with pleasure-take, for example, the sins committed out of anger or out of lust. For this reason the fruit is said to 6e f air (Gen. 3.6), at least so it seemed according to the mistaken judgment of those who place their good in pleasure. Subsequently, however, it is found to be evil because of the bitterness of digestion-according to the words of Proverbs that tell us that honey drips from the lips of evil, and for a time moistens the throat like oil, but that

2j8

boundaries. Thus in a circle there can only be one true center;

it is impossible to have two centers with the circle remaining the same. For

if

you should take as the center a different one

from the one that is already fixed, you must substitute another circle, and so your first center is excluded from being its center, seeing that a new circle is being described about the second center. Yet in the garden of Paradise both trees are said to be in the center (Gen. 2.9, 3.3), as though each possessed a force that was contradictory to the other-in the one, the power of life, and in the other the fruit of death, which Paul has called sin: The fruit of sin is death (Rom. 6.t3).'o But in all this interpretation of the text we must bear in mind the lesson that the most central of God's plants was life. Death was not really planted, nor did it have roots or its own proper place. Rather, it grew by the privation of life, when living things fell short of their participation in life. Life, then, was in the center of all the things God planted, and the entire essence of death consists in the cessation of life. The same follows for the tree of death, which the text (teaching us this doctrine by means of symbols) tells us lay in the middle of Paradise and that its fruit had a potency whictr was a mixture of contraries. For it tells us that it was at once

it

is more bitter than gall to those who have wrongfully tasted of its sweetness (Prov. j.3-D. And so man separated himself from the fruit of all good things, and by his disobedience he was filled with the fruit that brings destruction. And the name of that fruit was mortal sin. Straightway he died to the more perfect life: he passed from a divine life to one on the level with irrational beasts. Once death was mingled with his nature, mortality was afterwards

all the generations of his children. Hence we are born into a life of death, for, in a certain sense, our very life has died. Our life is indeed dead because we have been deprived of immortality. But the man who is aware that he lives in the midst of two lives can cross the barrier between them, such that by destroying the one he can give the victory to the other. Man by his death to the true life entered into this life of death. So too, when he dies to this irrational life of death, he is restored to life eternal. And so there is no doubt but that we cannot enter into this life of blessedness unless we die to sin. For this reason then the Word suggests a hidden meaning

passed on to

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when it places both trees in the rnidst of Paradise, seeing that one is there by right, and the other only comes after it by way of privation. For the cycle of life and death takes place by participation and privation with regard to one and the same thing. Whoever dies to good,lives for evil, and he who dies to sin lives again for virtue. Rightly then does the bride fill her hands full of myrrh (Cant. 5.5). She arises by her death to sin to open her door to the Word. And the Word whom she receives is Life. The soul, then, who looks towards God is raised up to this height in the ways we have considered. She does not yet

know as she ought to know, as Paul has said (r Cor.8.2); she does not count herself to haue apprehendel, but keeps running towards the Transcendent, stretching herself forth to those things that are before (Phil. 3.13).?6

74. The Door of the Spirit (ibid., ro24B-ro28A) My soul, she says, uent out at his uord (Cant. 5.6).?7 Here the bride teaches us that the only way of apprehending that Power which transcends all understanding is never to remain fixed in any single notion of Him, but ever to move forward and never to stop with what we have already perceived. The bride full ol myrrh signifies our dying to sin in all the actions of life (which she calls, symbolically, fingers). And she demonstrates the free element in virtue by the fact that the myrrh flows spontaneously from her fingers. She says that she has touched the bolt of her door with her hands (Cant. 5.6); and by this she means that her good works have come close to that straight and narrow door, whose bolt the Word

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ofiers to those who resemble Peter.?s And so with both of these she opens for herself the door of the Kingdom: with her hands, by which she manifests her good deeds, and with the key of faith. It is by both of these, by faith and by works, that the Word prepares in us the key of the Kingdom. But when,like Moses, she hoped that the face of the King would be made visible to her, her beloaed turned aside (Cant. 5.6) from her comprehension. Thus she says: My be' loaed turned aside-but this was not with the intention of abandoning the soul that followed Him, but rather to draw her to Himself. For my soul uent out at his anrd. Ah, what a blessed departure this is, when the soul goes out to follow her Lord! The Lord wlll freep thy coming in and thy going out, says the Prophet (Ps. rzo.8). For surely this is what God protects in those who are worthy, their exits and their en' trances. For the going out of our Present state becomes an entrance into the world of transcendent good. This is the going out that the soul enjoys when she takes as her guide the Word, Who said: I am the door (lohn ro.9) and the Way; and again: By me , if any man enter in, he shall go in and go out (fohn ro.g). And she shall never stop going in and going out: her only rest is to continue to enter, by her progress, into those things that are before, and to go out of the things that she has already apprehended. In this way too the beloved face of the Lord once passed Moses by, and thus the soul of the Lawgiver kept going out of the state in which it had arrived, constantly following after the Word Who walked before. Everyone is familiar with those elevations which Moses enjoyed, for no matter how great he had become, he never stopped in his growth towards perfection. He had grown

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great even at the outset, when he felt that the shame of Christ

in Thy eyes, then show Thyself to me openly. God then promised He would grant this favor as he requested, saying Thee haue I ftnotun beyond all (Exod. T.r7). And yet God still passed by him as he stayed in that divine spot in the rock, covere d ove r by God's hand; and even after God passes, Moses is able only with difficulty to see His back (Exod.33.2r4).By this I think we are taught that he who wishes to see God, will see his Beloved only by constantly following after Him, and the contemplation of His face is really the unending journey towards Him, accomplished by following directly behind the Word. So too in our text the soul has arisen up through death, and, filled uith myrrh, she puts her hands to the bolt and desires her Beloved to enter in. But He passes by. And she goes out, not remaining where she was, but rather trying to touch the Word Who leads on constantly ahead.

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was a far higher thing than the kingdom of Egypt, and he preferred to suffer with the people of God rather than have the temporary pleasure of sin. He grew great once again when in the struggle between Egyptians and |ews he fought for the Israelites and punished a foreigner with death. Surely you understand the meaning of this growth, by translating the history into an allegorical level of discourse. Once again he grew great when he spent a long time as a solitary in the desert, leading his life far from men. Next he receives an illumination by the burning bush; and here he strips from his feet the dead covering of skins. He destroys the snakes of Egvpt with his rod' He removes his people from the domination of the Pharaoh. He travels with the

help of a cloud. He divides the sea. He drowns the tyrant. He sweetens the waters of Mara. He makes the rock fow. He is filled with the food of angels. He hears the trumPets; braves the burning mountain; reaches the toP; enters into the cloud; he comes into the darkness where God is; he receives the Testament; he becomes an unaPProachable sun to those who come near, radiating light from his countenance. Indeed, how could anyone enumerate all the various kinds of elevations and divine manifestations which he enjoyed I Yet great as he was, with such virtue and such graces, elevated so high towards the divinity, he still had an insatiable desire for more, and besought God to let him see Him face to face, even though the Scriptures tell us that he had been allowed to speak with God face to face. But neither the fact that he spoke with God as with a friend, nor that he had enjoyed intimate conversation with Him, prevented Moses from desiring more. Rather, what he says is: If I have found favor

75. The

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Purifcations (ibid., rcz9A-ro37C)

The fteepers that go about the city lound me: they strucft me: and wounded me: the fteepers o"f the rualls toofr away my ueil from me (Cant. 5.7).'n Some might perhaps think that these are the words of one in pain, not those of one in joy, especially when she says: T hey strucfrme: they uounded me: tltey tooftaruay my ueil. But if you consider the meaning of the words carefully, you will see they are the expressions of one who glories in what she most enjoys. And this might become clear to us in the following way. A little farther back the text says that the bride is being purified of every garment, where it has her say: I haue put off n'ry garment, horu shall I

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put it on? (Cant. 5.3). Yet here it says that her veil has been removed. Now the word "veil" refers to the one brides wear to cover the head and face, such as the one Scripture tells us Rebecca wore (Gen. 24.6). But if all the bride's clothing has been removed, how can she be stiil wearing her ueil, which the guards now take from her ? Indeed, from these words it is clear that the bride has made great progress, since her previous state, towards a higher degree of perfection. For after removing her old tunic and divesting herself of all further clothing, she became much purer than she was. And yet, in comparison with this newly acquired purity, she does not seem to have removed her head-covering. Even after that complete stripping of herself she still finds something further to remove. So it is with our ascent towards God: each stage that we reach always reveals something heavy weighing on the soul. Thus in comparison with her new found purity, that very stripping of her tunic now becomes a kind of garment which those who find her must once again remove. These are the watchmen who patrol the city. And the city is the soul. And those whose duty it is to guard the city walls remove her veil by beating and wounding her. No one who studies the text of the Apostle can doubt that this stripping of the veil is a grace, that the eye might be free of any impediment and thus gaze unhindered at that beloved Beauty. For the Apostle attributes the removal of the veil to the operation of the Spirit when he says: But tuhen he shall be conaerted to the Lord, the ueil shall be taften auay. Now the Lord is a Spirit (z Cor.

3;I'ry). No one who is familiar with logical thinking can doubt that whatever produces good must itself be good. Hence, if

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the removal of the bride's veil is a good thing, then so are the

beating and the wounding, by which this stripping is achieved. Yet in their obvious sense, these words can have unpleasant connotations; for the words they strucfr me, and they wounded me suggest pain. Hence it would help if we first examined the use Holy Scripture makes of such expressions to see whether it ever uses them in a good sense; then on that basis we may examine their connotation in the present passage.

How

does Wisdom save the soul

of the young man from

death ? What is her advice that he may not die I Let us listen to her words: If thou strifte him utith the rod, she says, he shall

not die (Prov. 23.ry). Though you beat him with the rod, you save his soul from death. It would seem, then, that the expression they strucftme suggests immortality in accordance with the text: If thou strifte him with the rod, he shall not die,and that to be struck by the rod is the only way the soul can be saved from death. Thus we are shown that the expression has a good meaning, for it is indeed good to save one's soul from death. And the Prophet tells us that God acrs in just this way, vivifying by death, and curing by striking: I will ftill, He says, and mafte to liue: I cuill strifte and I cuill heal (Deut. 32.3il. Hence, too, the great David tells us that this rod causes not a wound but consolation, saying: Thy rod and thy stafr, they haue comf orted me (Ps. zz.4).Indeed, it is by these that the divine table is prepared (Ps. zz.5), with all the other details which the psalm relates in the context: oil for his head, a cup of unmixed wine (causing thar sober inebriation), the mercy of God that followed him so well, and a long dwelling in the house of the Lord (Ps. zz.5-6). These rhen are

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the blessings implied in that sweet striking, as we are taught by Proverbs as well as the voice of the Prophet. And hence

that striking, from which there is such an abundance of grace, must indeed be a good thing.

But we would do well to consider some of the earlier portion of the text which we have passed over. The Word passed by the bride, and she rvas unable to grasp her Beloved. Rut He did not pass by as one who would run ahead and desert her; it was rather to draw her to Himself all the more. For she says: My soul tuent out at his a,ord. The soul then goes out of the place where she had been, and thus she is found by the city watchmen:The ftecpers that go about the city found me (Cant. 5.7). Now this would have been a distressing occurrence if she had been found by robbers, or by the pains of Hell.8o T/te tltief corneth not, but for to steal, and to ftilt, anti to destroy (|ohn ro.ro). But to be found by the fteepers that go about the city must surely be a great blessing for her. For whoever is found by the watchman cannot be stolen by robbers. Who then are the watchmen I None other than the ministers that fteepeth lsrael (Ps. no.4),the ministers of Him Who is our protection upon ov right hand,Who we believe will keep the soul 't'rom all euil,Who protecrs our coming in and going out (Ps. no.7-B). He is the watchman of the city of Whom it is said: Unless the Lord freep the city, he tuatcheth in uain that freepeth zt (Ps. rz6.r). Hence in our text the watchmen who patrol the city are those ministering spirits, sent to minister f or them, who shall receiue the inheritance of salaation (Heb. r.r4). And the soul, as the Word tells us, is the house of God. The watchmen, then, find the soul-as the lamb was once found by the Good

FROM GLORY TO GLORY 267 Shepherd-and at this all the angelic choirs are moved to rejoice, as the Lord tells us (Luke r5.ro).tn Similarly too the lost drachma was found with the heip of a lamp,tt and all the friends and neighbors were glad (Luke r5.9). In the same way was God's servant David found, ac-

cording to the psalm in which David speaks in the person of the Lord: I haae -t'ound Dauid my seraant: a,,ith my holy oil I haae anointed him (Ps.88.zr). And once found, David belonged to Him Who found him, as we learn from the rest of the psalm: My ltand shall help hirn: and my arm shall strengthen him. The enemy shall haue no aduantage ouer him: nor the son of iniquity haae poruer to hurt him. And I a.,ill cut down his enenties before his f ace: and them that hate him I uill put to flight (Ps. 88.22-z+).To this we may add all the other things which that holy catalogue of praise contains.

Thus it is a good thing for the soul to be found by the angels that go about the city. And this, too, David gives us to understand when he says: The angel ol the Lord shall encamp round about thcm that lear him: and shall deliuer them (Ps.33.8). And so when the bride says: The freeperr... strucft me, she is really glorying in the progress she has made towards heavenl and in saying that she is wounded, she tells us that the blow of the divine rod has penetrated deeply. The operation of that spiritual rod is not for merely on the surface, so that she would not even know the place it struck; rather, the place where she was struck is marked by a wound which the bride is proud of. This then is the meaning of our text. The divine rod, or stafi, that brings comfort and cures by striking, is the Spirit, Whose fruit consists in all those graces that Paul has enumerated, and, in particular, the continence

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of the life of perfection. So too Paul was branded with those blows, and rejoiced in his wounds, saying: I bear the marfrs of the Lord lesus in my body (Gal.6.17). Thus does he bear witness to that infirmity in the midst of evil, by which the potuer of Christ is perfected in virtue (z Cor. rz.9). This shows us that the wounding in our text, by which the veil is stripped off, is a grace. In this way the soul's beauty is unveiled and not hidden under the mantle of darkness. But let us recapitulate and resume our thought. The soul that looks up towards God, and conceives that good desire for His eternal beautyr constantly experiences an ever new yearning for that which lies ahead, and her desire is never given its full satisfaction. Hence she never ceases to stretch herself forth to those things that are before, ever passing from her present stage to enter more deeply into the interior, into the stage which lies ahead. And so at each point she judges each great marvelous grace to be inferior to what is yet to come, because each newly won grace always seems to be more beautiful than those she has previously enjoyed. It was in this way that Paul died daily (r Cor. r5.r3).For each moment that he participated more deeply in life he died to all that was past, forgetting those graces which he had already attained. And so the bride that ever runs towards her Spouse will never find any rest in her progress towards perfection. She has gardens of pomegranates fow from her mouth; she prepares food for the Lord of creation, and entertains Him with her own fruit. She waters her gardens, and becomes herself a well of living water. She is shown to be radiant and immaculate on the testimony of the Word. But then she advances even farther, and perceives something even more marvelous. As the Word goes before her, His head is full of dew and

with the drops of the night which fill His hair. She washes her feet, and takes ofi her tunic, and her hands flow with

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myrrh. She puts her hands to the bolt, opens the door, and looks for Him Who is beyond our comprehension, and calls to Him Whom we cannot reach. She is found by the watchmen and feels the blow of the rod. She is like the rock of which the Prophet says: He struck the rocfr, and the tuaters guslted out (Ps. 77.2o). Do you see now how far the bride has come ? This is why she was struck like the rock that Moses struck: that she might,like the rock, pour forth a stream for those who thirst for the Word, welling up from her as from a spring. Now that the watchmen have stripped away her veil she can reveal the beauty of her countenance. This then is the meaning that I have been able to obtain from the passage. But this is not to begrudge anyone else from obtaining an interpretation of the text more profitable to the soul from Him Whom reveals the hidden mysteries. Indeed, someone might see a connection between our text and the vision of Isaias. I refer to the vision he had after the king suffering from leprosy died. Here he says he saw someone seated in magnificence upon a high and lofty throne (Is. 6.r), though his shape and size and form he was unable to see. For surely if he had been able he would have told us, as he did with the other things he saw, as, for example, the wings, their location and their motion. Yet he says he only heard a voice, and that the lintel of the doors was raised at the hymn of the seraphim, and that the house uas filled uitlt smofte (Is.6.a). And one of the seraphim touched his mouth with a liae coal;and at this his lips as well as his ears were purified for the reception of the Word (Is. 6.6-7).

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In a similar way the bride in our text says she was struck and wounded by the watchmen, and the covering of her veil was torn away. In the Isaias passage, instead of the veil the lintel is moved, so that he could have an unobstructed vision of the mysteries that were within. Instead of watchmen the seraphim are mentioned; instead of a rod, a live coal; and instead of striking, burning. But with the bride as with Isaias the goal is the same, namely purification. And just as the prophet, far from being hurt when he was burnt by the coal, rather took pride that he was so honored, so too the bride does not here complain of any pain from the wound, but rather glories in the new liberty she has received by the removal of her veil. But there is still another interpretation that we can discover in the text, quite in harmony with what we have already considered. The soul, liaving gone out at the word of her Beloved, looks for Him but does not find Him. She calls on Him, though He cannot be reached by any verbal symbol, and she is told by the watchmen that she is in love with the unattainable, and that the object of her longing cannot be apprehended. In this way she is, in a certain sense, wounded and beaten because of the frustration of what she desires, now that she thinks that her yearning for the Other cannot be fulfilled or satisfied. But the veil of her grief is removed when she learns that the true satisfaction of her desire consists in constantly going on with her quest and never ceasing in her ascent, seeing that every fulfilment of her desire continually generates a further desire for the Transcendent. Thus the veil of her despair is torn away and the bride realizes that she will always discover more and more of the incomprehensible and unhoped for beauty of her Spouse

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throughout all eternity. Then she is torn by an even more urgent longing, and through the daughters of |erusalem she communicates to her Beloved the dispositions of her heart. For she has received within her God's special dart, she has been wounded in the heart by the point of faith, she has been mortally wounded by the arrow of love. And God is loue.

76. The Body of Christ (ibid., sermon 13, ro45D-ro48D) In Christ, that which is uncreated, eternal, existing

before

the ages, is completely inexpressible and incomprehensible to all created intellects. Yet that which was revealed in the flesh can to a certain extent be grasped by human understanding. It is towards this element in Christ that the Church, our teacher, looks, and of this does she speak, inasmuch as this can be made intelligible to those who listen to her. What I am chiefly referring to here is the mystery of saivation, by which God was revealed to us in the flesh. He Who was in the't'orm of God (Phil. 2.6) lived with men through the fesh in the f orm ol a slaae. And after He had reunited to Himself by the sacrifice of first-fruits the mortal substance of the flesh He had received from an immaculate Virgin, He continued to sanctify our common humanity by His own immortality. This He does through those who are united with Him according to their share in the mystery, by nourishing His orn'n

Body the Church, and by harmoniously fitting to it all the various limbs that grow by faith in Him. As St. Paul says, the body indeed is one, but many are the members (r Cor. nl4). And all the members are not of the same sort. The eye of the body, for example, does not despise

T GREGORY OF NYSSA the hand, and the head does not spurn the feet. But the body is in complete harmony throughout all its members though composed of a diversity of powers, so that one member will not come into confict with another. Paul tells us this first in mystery, but then proceeds more clearly, saying that God established in His Church apostles, prophets, doctors and pastors f or tlte perfecting of tlte saints, for the uorft of the ministry, for tlte edifying of the body of Christ: until we all

in tlte unity of "faith, and of the ftnowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of tlte age of the fulness of Christ (Eph. 4.rr-r3). And again, he says: May ute grotu up in all things in him who is the head, euen Christ: from uhom the uhole body, being compacted and fitly ioined together, by what eoery ioint supplieth, arcording to the operation in the rneasure of euery part, rnafteth increase of the body, unto tlte edifying of itself in charity meet

(Eph.4.15-16). And so he who

sees the Church looks directly at ChristChrist building and increasing by the addition of the elect. The bride then puts the veil from her eyes and with pure vision sees the ineffable beauty of her Spouse. And thus she is wounded by a spiritual and fiery dart of desire.t'For love that is strained to intensity is called desire. And no one should be ashamed of this, whenever the arrow comes from God and not from the flesh. But the bride rather glories in her wound, for the point of this spiritual yearning has pierced to the depths of her heart. And this she makes clear when she says to the other maidens: I am uounded with loue (Cant.

5.5).

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77. The New Creation (ibid., ro49B-ro5zA)aa The establishment of the Church is a re-creation of the world. In the Church there is a new heaven, as the Prophet said (Is.6S.rZ). Here too there is a new firmament, which is, as Paul tells us, faith in Christ (r Tim. 3.r5). A new earth is formed, and it drinks up the rains that pour down upon it. Man is created once again, for by his rebirth from on high he is renewed according to the image of his Creator. There is also a new light, of which He speaks: You are the light of the tuorld (Matth. 5.rD; and again: Arnong athom you shine as lights in the u.,orld (Phil. z.r5). And there are many stars rising on the firmament of faith. And there should be no wonder that there are so many stars numbered by God in this world and called by name, for their names, says their Creator, have been written in heaven. For it is in this sense that I understand the Creator of the new universe to say to His luminaries: Your names are written in heauen (Luke ro.zo). This is not the only striking thing about the new creation, that the Word has created in it a multitude of stars. There are also many suns, that light up the world with the rays of good works. For thus does their Creator speak: Let your light shine before rnen (Matth. 5.16); and, again: Then shall the just shine as the sun (Matth. r4.$). Anyone who gazes upon the visible universe and sees the wisdom that has been impressed upon the beauty of all creatures, can argue from the visible to the invisible beauty, the fountainhead of all Wisdom, Whose infuence brought all creatures into being. So too, anyone who looks upon the universe of this new creation reflected in the Church, can

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in it Him Who is all in all, and thus through things that are intelligible and understandable he may be led by our faith to an awareness of the Transcendent. And so these maidens request the soul who is rising up towards perfection to reveal her Beloved to them; and she paints a picture of her love in terms of the mysteries of salvation. She shows how the whole Church is but the one Body of her Spouse; and in her description of His beauty she attributes a particular meaning to each one of His members, but it is only by the union of all of the particular members that the beauty of the Body is complete. see

78. The Symbol qf Closed Eyes (ibid., ro578-ro618) His

eyes as doaes upon the fullness of the tuaters, wltich are uashed with milft, and sit beside plentiful streams (Cant.

5.r2).tn The meaning of this text is far beyond our comprehension; indeed any notion we could form of it would be, I feel, far inferior to the truth. But after serious thought, this is what it would seem to mean. Somewhere in his writings the divine Apostle has said that the eye should not say to the hand: I need not thy help (t Cor. n.zr). And by this he means to teach us that the body of the Church must use both these faculties for its proper operation: the faculty of vision and truth must be joined with the power of action. For contemplation alone cannot perfect the soul without good works to support a morally good life; nor, on the other hand, is the active life completely sufficient without the guidance of true piety. There must then be a cooperation between the hands and the eyes, and thus we are led by our text to consider first

FRON,{ GLORY

TO GLORY

27i

of all what the eyes here refer to, and then to study the reasons why they are so praised. We shall discuss the meaning of the hands in its proper place. The natural function of the eyes is to see. Hence they are located above all the other sense organs, and are thus entrusted by nature with the guidance of the entire body. Now Holy Scripture, as we know, has various names to refer to those who guide us in the ways of truth, as for example, a "seerr" or one who sees, and "watchmanr" as we find the word used in the Prophets (Ezech. 3.r7, and passinz). And so in our present text we are led to consider the eyes as referring to those who have been commanded to oversee, observe, superintend. And we learn what their admirable qualities are by a comparison; for the text intensifies the comparison by saying: His eyes as doues (Cant. 5.rz). This is indeed a high degree of praise inasmuch as it stresses the innocence of His eyes; and this they preserve by not being tainted with the life of the body, but by living and remaining constantly in the Spirit. The dove always symbolizes the pure life of the Spirit, for that was the form in which fohn saw the Holy Spirit soaring out of heaven over the waters. Hence anyone whom God has set over His Church as an eye, must wash away all the rheum of sin if he is to oversee and superintend as purely as he should. And He tells us that there is not merely one sort of water to cleanse the eyes, but many different kinds in abundance. There are as many different purifying springs of water as there are virtues, and it is through these that our eyes can become ever purer. One of these cleansing sources is the virtue of temperance, another

humility, and truth, and justice, and courage, and the desire for good and the repugnance for evil. These waters flow all

is

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from the same source, merging their streams into a single one, and by these the eyes may be purified of all the rheum of passion. But these eyes upon the fullness of the waters are compared to doues by reason of their purity and their perfection, and the Word says that they have been uashed in milft (Cant. 5.rz). And it is fitting praise for such eyes as these that the dove should be made lovely by being washed in milk. For it has been truly observed of milk that it cannot reflect any image or likeness. All other liquids are like mirrors, because their smooth surfaces reflect the image of those who look into them. It is only with milk that this does not happen. This then is the highest praise that could bestowed on the eyes of the Church, that they do not reflect, as it were, the deceptive shadow-pictures of non-existent things, things erroneous or vain and contrary to the true nature of reality. Rather, they gaze at that which is true Being, and do not take in the mistaken visions and fantasies of life. Hence for purity of eyes the perfect soul judges that bathing them in milk is quite safe.85 The rest of the text prescribes for the hearers the things on which the eyes should be intent: uhich sit, she says, beside the plentiful streams (Cant. 5.rz). In praising these eyes in this way, the Word teaches us that we must constantly sit down, in applying ourselves to the divine teaching. Thus we are instructed on how we might acquire this beauty, by constantly sitting down beside the plentiful uaters. True, many who have been assigned the duty of being eyes have abandoned this constant application and have sat by the riuers of Babylon, thus cleserving the accusarion which God Himself makes against them: They haue lorsaften me,He says,

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the fountain of liuing tuater, and haue digged to themselues brofren cisterns, tltat can ltold no cuater (Jerem. z.13). It is thus we learn that the eye is to become beautiful, and eminently fitting for His golden head-that is, by being as spotless as the dove, as opaque to error and deception as

milk,

and never deluded by the fantasies of things that have no sit down beside the plentiful streams, as stationary as trees planted beside the running wat€rs (Ir.++.+).Then will we bring forth fruit in due season (Matth. zr.z4), and the branch will be kept green, nestling in the beauty of its leaves. But as it is, many allow the eyes of the spirit to neglect these waters, and they despise the study of the divine Word. Instead they dig their own cistern of avarice, work in the quarry of conceit, sink wells of arrogance, dig with care other reservoirs of deception-and these are by nature incapable of retaining for eternity the waters they so eagerly strive for. For the honor and power and glory for which so many work so hard will run off like water as soon as they are attained, and not a trace of all their labor will be left behind for these men who have been under an illusion. The Word, then, would wish His seers and superintendents to be such as I have said. And they must erect as a bulwarkas a kind of eyebrow-the certainty of the divine doctrines. And they must conceal the purity and splendor of their lives with continence-as it were, by an eyelid-so that the beam of self-esteem will never fall upon their clear pupils and so impede their vision. substance. By patience and application we must

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79. The Mystical Night of the Soul (ibid., sermon 14, ro65 C-ro68C) His lips are as lilies dropping choice myrrh (Cant. 5.r3). The two comparisons in thc text here suggest two diflerent qualities. One of these is truth, which shines as bright as light in all His doctrine. For the form of the lily is such that its whiteness is an apt symbol of the purity and truth of doctrine. The other is this: His teaching sets forth only that spiritual and immaterial way of life, and the life of this world, the life of flesh and blood, must be mortified by the contemplation of spiritual reality. For myrrh fows from His body and fills the souls of those who receive Him; and this is a clear symbol of the mortification of the body. Indeed in the inspired word it often happens that the word myrrh is taken as referring to death. And so this pure and perfect eye makes of its cheek a bou.,l that pours forth spices as if from a spring (Cant. 5.r3);tu this flowers now with the lilies of doctrine which pour from His mouth adorned with a divine radiance. In this way does the divine Word refer to those who are pure and fragrant with virtue ; for from them fow the drops of myrrh which endlessly fill the minds of those who receive it. This implies complete contempt for a purely material existence ; and all the things for which men exert themselves in this world are for them dead and devoid of interest. It was this sort of myrrh that fowed from the mouth of Paul, mingled with the pure lily of continence, to fill the ears of that holy virgin. And the virgin was Thecla,tt who caught these fowing drops so precious for the soul and put the

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outer man to death, by extinguishing every carnal thought or desire. Once she received his saving doctrine, her youth and all its beauty died along with all the faculties of her body. Alone alive in her was the Word; because of Him the whole world for her was dead, and she, the virgin, had died to the

world. So too the mighty Peter once poured forth the bright lilies of the Word in the house of Cornelius, filling the souls of his listeners with myrrh. And no sooner had they received the Word when they were buried with Christ in Baptism, becoming dead to this world. There are countless examples I could mention from the lives of the saints, who became the common mouth of the Church, pouring on their listeners the myrrh that kills all passion, and blossoming with flowers, with the lilies of the Word. Thus they became the great champions of the faith in time of persecution, and by their loyal confession they were covered with myrrh in their conflicts on behalf of the true religion. But now that my interpretation has become clear, there is no need to prolong my discussion of this point any further: we have seen how the Church becomes a lily, how the lily can drop myrrh, and how these drops can fill the souls of those who receive the Word.

8o. The Good Samaritan (ibid., ro85A-ro88A) This is my beloued, she says, and this is ttty friend, O daughters of lerusalem (Cant. 5.r6)tt The bride had previously tried to set before the eyes of the other maidens all

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the signs by which they could recognize the One Whom she sought. Now, however, in her speech she points Him out directly, saying: This is my Beloved, Who rose from |udah to become our Brother, and became neighbor to him who fell among robbers, healed his wounds with oil, wine and bandages; then taking him on His own beast, He set him down to rest at an inn, offering two denarii for his stay, and promising that on His return He would repay any service that was discharged over and above His command. The point of each of these details is surely clear. The man who was an expert in the Law wanted to test the Lord and set himself higher than the others, and in his pride had complete contempt for any equality with the rest. And so he said: And who is my neighbor? (Luke ro.z9) And then the Word explained, in the form of a story, God's entire economy of salvation. He told of man's descent from heaven, the robbers' ambush, the stripping of the garment of immortality, the wounds of sin, the progress of death over half of man's nature while his soul remained immortal. Then came the passage of the Law that brought no hel5neither the priest nor the Levite tended the wounds of the man who fell among robbers-for it was impossible for the blood of goats and oren (Heb.9.r3) to remove man's sin. And then He came, clothed in our human nature as the first-fruits of the massrts in which there was a portion of every race, ]ewish, Samaritan, Greek-all mankind. With His body (that is, the beast of the story) he proceeded to the place of man's disaster, healed his wounds and set him upon His own beast. He created for him the inn of His loving providence, in which all those who labor and are burdened can find rest (Manh. rr.z8). And those who enter here receive within themselves that which

FROM GLORY TO GLORY z8r receives them, as the Word Himself has said: he abideth in me, and I in him (lohn 6.57). Man, then, receives within himself the Lord Whom nothing can contain, in accordance with his capacity. He accepts the two denarii, one of which signifies the love of God with one's whole heart, and the other the love of one's neighbor as oneself, according to the lawyer's reply. But not the hearers of the laru are just before God, but the doers of the lau shall be justified (Rom. z.r3). Hence we must not merely accept these two coins (I mean our faith in God and a good conscience with respect to our fellow man), but we must by our own good deeds cooperate in the fulfilment of these two commandments. And so the Lord says to the inn-keeper that wharever he does in caring for the wounded man will be made up to him at the Lord's second coming according to the measure of his devotion. Thus it was that the Man Who became our neighbor through such love was also the One Who became our Brother by rising out of fudah. It is He Whom the immaculate bride reveals to the daughters of ferusalem when she says: This is my beloued and this is my friend, O daughters of lerusalem. And by these characteristics that have been revealed we shall, by the guidance of the Holy Spirit, be able to find Him and keep Him for the salvation of our souls.

8r. "My

Beloued to

Me" (ibid.,serrnon

rj,

ro93C-ro96D)

I to my beloued, says the bride, and my beloued to rne (Cant. 6.2). This is the norm and limit of all perfection. By these words we are taught that the purified soul must possess

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FROM GLORY TO GLORY

nothing but God alone, and must look to nothing outside of Him. Hence it must so cleanse itself of every material thought and deed, that it may be completely transformed into something spiritual and immaterial, and thus make of itself a most radiant image of that archetypal Beauty. Take the example of a man who looks at a painting on a canvas that has been very closely modelled on its archetype. He declares that the same form exists in both, that the beauty of the model is in the likeness and the archetype is clearly visible in its imitation. In the same way the bride, tn saying, I to rny beloaed, and my beloaed to me , declares that she has modelled herself on Christ, thus recovering her own proper loveliness, that blessed state which our human nature had in the beginning, for now her beauty has developed in the image and lifteness of that sole true Beauty which is the prototype. It is just like a mirror that has been artistically and practically designed: it accurately reflects on its pure surface the image of any face that is in front of it. So too the soul reflects the pure image of that unsullied Beauty, when she has prepared herself properly and cast off every material stain. Then may the soul say-for she is a kind of living mirror possessing free will: When I face my Beloved with my entire surface, all the beauty of His form is reflected within me. Paul too says this when he declares that he lives to God and is dead to the world, that Christ alone lives in him (Gal. 5.rg-zo). And when he says, To me, to liue is Christ (Phil. r.zr), he proclaims that no human or material passion lives in him, not pleasure, grief, anger, fear, cowardice, vehement emotion, self-esteem, insolence, ill will, envy, vindictiveness, avarice, or any other inordinate disposition of the soul. For

I have Him alone, and He is none of these. For I have stripped away everything that is not Christ, and so I have nothing in my soul that is not in Him. Truly then to //te , to liue is Christ, or, to use the words of the bride, 1 to my beloued, and my beloued to me. This is true holiness, purity, incorruptibility, light, truth, and all the rest, and these pasture my soul not in the dry undershrubs or in the pastures, but in the brightness of the saints (Ps. ro9.3). And this is the meaning suggested by the lilies because of their radiant beauty. And this is the reason why He, tuho feedeth among the lilies (Cant. 6.2), leads his fock to the meadows of lilies, that the brightness ol the Lord our God may be upon us (Ps.89.17). When we eat we are completely afiected by the nature of our food. Or, to give an example, let us imagine a hollow vessel made of glass, such that anything you put into it is clear and visible. So too, when we put the brightness of lilies into our souls, we make our souls bright, because the quality of the lilies shines out from the inside. Now to make my meaning clear. What I am saying is that the soul feeds on the virtues, and that text by way of symbolism is speaking of the virtues as lilies. Whosoever is filled with these by a good life makes himself radiant by reflecting in his character the quality of every virtue throughout his life. Let your pure lily be temperance and justice and fortitude and prudence, and uhatsoeaer the Apostle has told you as true, whatsoeuer modest, whatsoeuer louely, tuhatsoeuer iust, uthatsoeuer of good"t'ame, if there be any uirtue, if any praise (Phil. a.8).'go All these are proven to be present in the soul by her pure life: they at once adorn the soul that pos-

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GREGORY OF NYSSA them, and are themselves adorned by the soul that

receives them. So the bride offers herself to her Beloved and receives from Him His own Beauty within herself. Now with regard to the graces which they receive from God Who glorifies those who glorify Him (r Kings 2go),n,

we shall hear of them in our consideration of the text which immediately follows.

82. TheWings of the Doue (ibid., rtooC-rrorC)

Turn away thy eyes from me, for they haae giuen me uings (Cant. 6.4).o' Some commenrators think that the Lord speaks these words to the pure soul, but I think that the sentence applies more suitably to the bride. I shall explain briefly the reasons that occur to me. Very frequently in Scripture, as I am aware, God is said to have wings. So, for example, the Prophet, when he says: Protect me under the sltadoru of thy uings (Ps. 16.8), and again: Under his wings wilt thou have trust.et Moses, too, suggests this in his great Canticle, when he says: Houering ouer them he spread his wings (Deut. 3ztr). We may compare, too, whar the Lord said to Jerusalem: How often would I haae gathered together thy c/tildren, as tlte hen doth gather her chicftens under her tuings (Manh. 437); and, if one would consider the context, this is quite in accord with the idea we have been considering.

For some hidden reason, then, the inspired word affirms that the divine nature has wings. Now we know that man at his creation in the beginning was made to the image and lifteness of God (Gen. r.z6). And this was because as an

.\

t

i I I II

I

I

I I

image

FI{OM GLORY TO GLORY it was in all things like its archetype. But,

285

according

to the Scriptures, our prototype has wings. Hence it follows that man's nature was also created with wings, that in this point too it might possess the divine likeness. It is clear, of course, that the word "wings" here will be interpreted on an allegorical level suitable for the divinity. Thus the wings would refer to God's power, His happiness, His incorruptibility, and so on. Now all these attributes were also in man, so long as he was still like God. But then it was the inclination towards sin that robbed us of these wings. Once outside the shelter of God's wing, we were also stripped of our wings. Hence the grace of God hath appeared to :us, enlightening us, that, denying ungodliness and utorldly desires,we might once again grow wings through sanctity and righteousness (Tit. z.tr-rz). So then, if what I have said has not gone beyond the bounds of truth, it is fitting here that the bride should speak of the grace she has received from the divine regard. God has similarly looked on us with the eyes of kindness, and we have been given wings again according to his primitive bounty.

And this,

I

think, is the meaning of the text in which

David prays to the Lord in the sixteenth Psalm: Irt thy eyes behold the things that are equitable-that is, my own. For thou hast proued my heart, he says, and aisited it by night, thoa hast tried me by fire: and iniquity hath not been found in me (Ps. 16.z-3). And this is just as though He had said: Thine eyes do not see what is contrary. For he who sees aright does not see crookedly, and he who does not see crookedly always see aright. Hence by removing what is contrary, he points out to the divine regard what is good; and

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in this way the soul regains its wings once again, after it had lost them through the sin of our first parents. When Thine eyes look at me, they are averted from what is contrary; nor will they see in me anything that is contrary to me. Thus by Thine eyes, O Lord, I obtain the grace of being winged again, of recovering through virrue thi wings of theDove, by which I may have the power of flight. Now I can fly and can rest, and indeed in that rest whichthe Lord enjoyed when He rested from His creation.

FROM GLORY TO GLORY 287 the Lord's words, would deny that this glory is the Holy Spirit. For He says: The glory which thou hast giaen me, I haae giuen to them (John ry.zz). Actually He gave His disciples this glory when He said to them: Receiae ye the Holy Ghosr (fohn zo.zz). And He Himself received this glory when He put on human nature, though He had indeed always possessed it since before the beginning of the world. And now that His human nature has been glorified by the

Spirit, this participation in the glory of the Spirit is communicated to all who are united with Him, beginning with

83. "One

k

My Doue" (ibid., n:5D-rrzoA)

One is my doue, my perfect one: she is the only one of her mother, tlte chosen one of her uho bore her (Cant. 6.g). This verse is more clearly explained by the Lord,s words in the

in giving all power to His disciples by His in His prayer to the Father he grants many other

Gospel. There blessing,

favors to those who are holy; and He addi this, whicir is the

crown of all blessings, that in all the diversity of life's deci_ sions they should never be divided greatly in their choice of the good; but He prays that all may be one (]ohn ry.zz), united in a single good, so that linked in the bond. of peace (Eph.4g), as rhe Apostle says, through the unity ol the Holy Spirit, all might become one body and one spirit, through the one hope to which they have all been callei. But it would be better here if we would quote the actual *o.1r of the Gospel. That they all may bi one, He says, as Thou, Father, in me, and I in Thee ; that they also may'be one in us (John ry.2). Now the bond of this unity is glory (]ohn ry.zz), and no one, who would seriouslv .orrrid..

His disciples. Hence He says: The glory which thou hast giuen me, I haue giuen to them: that they may be one, As we also are one: I in them, and they in me: that they may be made perfect in one (lohn ry.zz-23). He who grew quickly from childhood unto a perfect man, unto the measure of that spiritual age (Eph.4.r3), though born of a slave and a bondwoman, was honored with the royal dignity and received the Spirit by his detachment and his purity-this is the perfect dove on whom the Bridegroom looks when He says: One is rny doue, my perfect one: she is the only one of her mother, tlte chosen one of h.er uho bore her (Cant.6.8). Surely we know who the mother of the dove is, since we know the tree by its fruits. When we consider man, we cannot doubt that he is born of man. Similarly, if we look for the mother of the chosen dove, we will recognize her in none other than that Dove we spoke of. For the nature of the parent is always visible in the offspring. But the offspring of the Spirit is spirit. Hence, if the offspring is a dove, then surely its mother must be that Dove that came down from heaven to the |ordan, as |ohn testifies. This is the Dove that

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the maidens call blessed, and the queens and concubines praise (Cant. 6.8). For the path to thar blessed happiness is one that is open to all souls from every rank; and that is why the text says: The daughters sail/ her, and uill bless her: the qaeens and concubines will praise her (Cant. 6.8). All men are drawn to desire that which they praise and bless. So the daughters bless the Dove. And they too would desire above all to become doves. And the fact that the concubines praise the Dove testifies too to their earnest desire to attain what they praise, until that day when all men shall be made one, when all will look to the same end, when God will become all in all and all evil will be destroyed, and all men will be united together in harmony by their participation in the Good.nn

NOTES ON THE TEXTS BY HERBERT MUSURILLO, S.J. lGregory of Nyssa's The

blc ol Moses, composed towards the end of his (about zgo/zss A.D.) is perhaps his profoundest and most representative work. Most o[ the carliest manuscripts assign it a double title; On the Life ol Moscs the Latugiuer: a Trcatisc on Perfection, or something of the sort; but it is possible that it had no exact title in antiquity' The Greek text with which most are familiar is the one reprinted in Migne, Patrologia graeca vol. 44 (Paris fi63) 298-429, and was taken from the edition of Gregory's works publishcd by the Jesuit patrologist Fronton du Duc in 1615; but for many reasons this text is very faulty, with a good number of omissions and errors' The text of fean Dani6lou (Sourccs chr€tiennes, Paris: r955) marks a distinct advance, bcing based, as it is, on some of the best manuscripts, and will be the most serviceable until my own text is published under the editorship o[ Werner ]aeger in Cregorii Nysseni opera, vol. vri. The Lile ol Moses has the form of a logos, that is, a formal treatise, intended to ask the question: What is perfection for those who are leading a life of Christian virtue? For this purpose Gregory chooses Moses as an hypodeigma, as an exemplar of the doctrine he is teaching. The method is allegorical: that is, taking the main facts from the life of Moses as given principally in Exodus z-r9, with some use of the other chapters of Exodus, and portions of Deuteronomy and Numbers. The life as such is given in the section called Historia; the heart of the doctrine, however, is contained intheTheoria, in which the literal details of Moses'life are interpreted according to the "three-fold" allegorical sense: the tropological (which applies details to the inner life of the Christian), the Messianic (which shows how these details foreshadow Christ and His Church) and, finally, life

the eschatological (interpreting the details in terms of the soul's life after death)' For the doctrines of the Theoria Gregory is at times influenced by Phllo's Vita Moysis and Quaestioncs in Exodum. The general atmosphere of the eclectic Neoplatonism of the fourth century is everywhere in evidence. But Gregory's originality consists, as Pdre Dani6lou has again and again reminded us, in the doitrin. of "infinite progress" of which Moses' life is a symbol. The progress of the Christian must, however, take place within a life of complete service and dedication to the new Law: the constant following of Christ becomes a more and more intense penetration into the Cloud of Darkness which surrounds the Godhead. Thus the mystical knowledge of God complements Christian asceticism as well as man's philosophic quest for the meaning of the universe. 'lhe Lilc ol Moses was apparently intended for the use of a Christian asceticthe name Caesarius, mentioned towards the close of the work, is probably not authentic