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The faithful know how much need they have of Jesus
and Him crucified; but though they wonder and
rejoice at the ineffable love made manifest in Him,
they are not daunted at having no more than their
own poor souls to give in return for such great and
condescending charity. They love all the more,
because they know themselves to be loved so
exceedingly; but to whom little is given the same
loveth little (Luke 7.47). Neither Jew nor pagan
feels the pangs of love as doth the Church, which
saith, 'Stay me with flagons, comfort me with
apples; for I am sick of love' (Cant. 2.5).
She beholds King Solomon, with the crown
wherewith his mother crowned him in the day of his
espousals; she sees the Sole-begotten of the Father
bearing the heavy burden of His Cross; she sees the
Lord of all power and might bruised and spat upon,
the Author of life and glory transfixed with nails,
smitten by the lance, overwhelmed with mockery, and
at last laying down His precious life for His
friends.
Contemplating this the sword of love pierces
through her own soul also and she cried aloud, 'Stay
me with flagons, comfort me with apples; for I am
sick of love.' The fruits which the Spouse gathers
from the Tree of Life in the midst of the garden of
her Beloved, are pomegranates (Cant. 4.13),
borrowing their taste from the Bread of heaven, and
their color from the Blood of Christ. She sees death
dying and its author overthrown: she beholds
captivity led captive from hell to earth, from earth
to heaven, so 'that at the name of Jesus every knee
should bow, of things in heaven and things in earth
and things under the earth' (Phil. 2.10).
The earth under the ancient curse brought forth
thorns and thistles; but now the Church beholds it
laughing with flowers and restored by the grace of a
new benediction. Mindful of the verse, 'My heart
danceth for joy, and in my song will I praise Him',
she refreshes herself with the fruits of His Passion
which she gathers from the Tree of the Cross, and
with the flowers of His Resurrection whose fragrance
invites the frequent visits of her Spouse.
Then it is that He exclaims, 'Behold thou art
fair, My beloved, yea pleasant: also our bed is
green' (Cant. 1. 16). She shows her desire for His
coming and whence she hopes to obtain it; not
because of her own merits but because of the flowers
of that field which God hath blessed. Christ who
willed to be conceived and brought up in Nazareth,
that is, the town of branches, delights in such
blossoms. Pleased by such heavenly fragrance the
bridegroom rejoices to revisit the heart's chamber
when He finds it adorned with fruits and decked with
flowers--that is, meditating on the mystery of His
Passion or on the glory of His Resurrection.
The tokens of the Passion we recognize as the
fruitage of the ages of the past, appearing in the
fullness of time during the reign of sin and death
(Gal. 4.4). But it is the glory of the Resurrection,
in the new springtime of regenerating grace, that
the fresh flowers of the later age come forth, whose
fruit shall be given without measure at the general
resurrection, when time shall be no more. And so it
is written, 'The winter is past, the rain is over
and gone, the flowers appear on the earth' (Cant.
2.11 f); signifying that summer has come back with
Him who dissolves icy death into the spring of a new
life and says, 'Behold, I make all things new' (Rev.
21.5). His Body sown in the grave has blossomed in
the Resurrection (I Cor. 15.42); and in like manner
our valleys and fields which were barren or frozen,
as if dead, glow with reviving life and warmth.
The Father of Christ who makes all things new, is
well pleased with the freshness of those flowers and
fruits, and the beauty of the field which breathes
forth such heavenly fragrance; and He says in
benediction, 'See, the smell of My Son is as the
smell of a field which the Lord hath blessed' (Gen.
27.27). Blessed to overflowing, indeed, since of His
fullness have all we received (John 1.16). But the
Bride may come when she pleases and gather flowers
and fruits therewith to adorn the inmost recesses of
her conscience; that the Bridegroom when He cometh
may find the chamber of her heart redolent with
perfume.
So it behoves us, if we would have Christ for a
frequent guest, to fill our hearts with faithful
meditations on the mercy He showed in dying for us,
and on His mighty power in rising again from the
dead. To this David testified when he sang, 'God
spake once, and twice I have also heard the same;
that power belongeth unto God; and that Thou, Lord,
art merciful (Ps. 62.11f). And surely there is proof
enough and to spare in that Christ died for our sins
and rose again for our justification, and ascended
into heaven that He might protect us from on high,
and sent the Holy Spirit for our comfort. Hereafter
He will come again for the consummation of our
bliss. In His Death He displayed His mercy, in His
Resurrection His power; both combine to manifest His
glory.
The Bride desires to be stayed with flagons and
comforted with apples, because she knows how easily
the warmth of love can languish and grow cold; but
such helps are only until she has entered into the
bride chamber. There she will receive His
long-desired caresses even as she sighs, 'His left
hand is under my head and His right hand doth
embrace me' (Cant. 2.6). Then she will perceive how
far the embrace of the right hand excels all
sweetness, and that the left hand with which He at
first caressed her cannot be compared to it. She
will understand what she has heard: 'It is the
spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing'
(John 6.63). She will prove what she hath read: 'My
memorial is sweeter than honey, and mine inheritance
than the honey-comb' (Ecclus. 24.20). What is
written elsewhere, 'The memorial of Thine abundant
kindness shall be showed' (Ps. 145.7), refers
doubtless to those of whom the Psalmist had said
just before: 'One generation shall praise Thy works
unto another and declare Thy power' (Ps. 145.4).
Among us on the earth there is His memory; but in
the Kingdom of heaven His very Presence. That
Presence is the joy of those who have already
attained to beatitude; the memory is the comfort of
us who are still wayfarers, journeying towards the
Fatherland. |