Patristic Commentary on the Song of Solomon - Part II

For Part I covering the spirituality and DIVINE eros of the Song of Songs, along with a passage on the Resurrection, see: http://full-of-grace-and-truth.blogspot.com/2010/04/patristic-commentary-on-song-of-solomon.html.

  

A Myrrhbearer (likely St. Mary Magdalene) with Christ at His Tomb after His Resurrection (http://stage.srpskoblago.org/Archives/Decani/exhibits/Collections/AfterResurrection/CX4K3249_l.html)

  

"By night on my bed I sought him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not.

I will rise now, and go about the city in the streets, and in the broad ways I will seek him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, but I found him not.

The watchmen that go about the city found me: to whom I said, Saw ye him whom my soul loveth?

It was but a little that I passed from them, but I found him whom my soul loveth: I held him, and would not let him go, until I had brought him into my mother's house, and into the chamber of her that conceived me."
Song of Solomon 3:1-4

 

St. Mary Magdalene beholding the risen Christ (source)

  
"And because we see the heavenly mysteries represented allegorically on earth through the gospel, let us come to Mary Magdalene and to the other Mary. Let us meditate upon how they sought Christ at night in the bed of his body, in which he lay dead, when the angel said to them, "You seek Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen. Why then do you seek in the tomb him who is now in heaven? Why do you seek in the bonds of the tomb him who frees all men of their bonds? The tomb is not his dwelling, but heaven is. And so one of them says, 'I sought him and I did not find him'."
-St. Ambrose of Milan, "On Isaac, of the Soul"

"'In my chamber by night I sought him." This refers to the women who came at the beginning of the morning on the sabbath to the tomb of Jesus and did not find him. He is in the chamber, therefore, or away from the chamber. Or perhaps they call their chamber the Lord's tomb because we are buried together with him. But when they did not find him, they heard at once: 'He is not here, for he has been raised.' And they discovered guardian angels, whom they asked, 'Where have you laid the Lord?' Then, when they had left the angels whom they were questioning, the Lord met them and said, 'Rejoice.' For this reason, it says, 'When I had passed by them for a little while, I found him whom I will not let go.' She grasped his feet and heard, 'Don't hold me.' Finally, he called the gathering of the apostles the house of the mother, to whom he announced the resurrection of Christ.
-St. Cyril of Alexandria, "Fragments in the Commentary on the Song of Songs"

Christ appearing to the Myrrhbearers after His Resurrection, and their announcing the Resurrection to the Apostles (http://www.srpskoblago.org/Archives/Pec/exhibits/ChurchoftheVirginHodegetria/Nave/WestArmoftheCross/NorthWall/282N2402_l.html)

  
"Let us follow him by day, the present day of the church, which Abraham saw and was glad. This is why we follow Christ during the day; for he will not be found by night. 'Upon my bed,' Scripture says, 'by night I sought him whom my soul loves. I called him, but he gave no answer.'"
-St. Ambrose of Milan, "On Virginity"

"We seek the one we love upon our beds when we sigh with longing for our Redeemer during our short period of rest during the present life. We seek him during the night, because even though our hearts are already watchful for him, our eyes are still darkened. But it remains for the person who does not find the one he loves to rise and go about the city, that is, he must travel about the holy church of the elect with an inquiring heart. He must seek her through its streets and squares, making his way, that is, through narrow and broad places, on the watch to make inquiries if any traces of her can be found in them, because there are some, even of those leading worldly lives, who have something worth imitating of virtue in their actions. The watchment who guard the city find us as we search, because the holy fathers who guard the church's orthodoxy come to meet our good efforts, to teach us, by their words of their writings. Scarcely have we passed them by when we find him whom we love. Although in his humility our Redeemer was a human being in the midst of human beings, in his divinity he was above human beings. Therefore once the watchmen have been passed by, the beloved is found."
-St. Gregory Dialogos, "Forty Gospel Homilies 25"

"Happy the person in whose heart Jesus sets his feet every day! If only he would set his feet in my heart! If only his footsteps would cling to my heart forever! If only I may say with the spouse, 'I took hold of him and would not let him go.'"
-St. Jerome, "Homilies on the Psalms 26"

 (http://books.google.com/books?id=cMxzdmLEL8UC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Proverbs,+Ecclesiastes,+Song+of+Solomon+By+John+Robert+Wright,+Thomas+C.+Oden&source=bl&ots=pgC37hCnZH&sig=V5CMm7dbQylCtrYaYdHu_9acqS0&hl=en&ei=Mb_YS-_iHpCS8gTh0KGoBw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CAYQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=where&f=false)

Christ greeting the Most-Holy Theotokos, and St. Mary Magdalene after His Holy Resurrection (http://uncutmountainsupply.com/proddetail.asp?prod=11L16)

  

Through the prayers of our Holy Fathers, Lord Jesus Christ our God, have mercy on us and save us! Amen!

Patristic Commentary on the Song of Solomon - Part I

Christ is risen! Truly He is risen!

The Risen Christ greeting St. Mary Magdalene, telling her: "Do not hold me" (Icon courtesy of www.eikonografos.com used with permission)

  

The Song of Songs, or Song of Solomon is an incredible book that is often unappreciated or misinterpreted. I hope to have a series of posts (though not necessarily in order) including some interpretations of the Fathers on this grace-filled, prophetic and spiritually uplifting book.

St. Gregory Dialogos, in his lengthy introduction to this great book, makes it evidently clear that though most of the book utilizes very vivid imagery, all of it is only meant to express divine eros and truth; this has nothing to do with carnal love:

"We must transcend this language that is typical of the passions so as to realize that virtuous state in which we are unable to be influenced by the passions. As the sacred writings employ words and meanings, so a picture employs colors and subject matter; it is excessively foolish to cling to the colors of the picture in such a way that the subject painted is ignored. Now if we embrace the words that are expressed in exterior terms and ignore their deeper meanings, it is like ignoring the subject depicted while focusing upon the colors alone...

When we listen to language belonging to the human way of life, we must distance ourselves from ordinary men lest by listening to what is said in a human way, we perceive nothing about the divinity that we ought to be hearing. Paul did not desire his disciples to be ordinary men when he said to them, "For when envy and contention are among you, are you not ordinary men?" (1 Cor 3:3-4) The Lord as well did not consider his disciples to be ordinary men when he said, "Who do men say that the Son of Man is?" (Mt 16:13) When they told him what ordinary men had said, he immediately added, "Who do you say that I am?" (Mt 16:15) Now by saying "men" first and then adding "you," he distinguished between ordinary men and his disciples; to be sure, by teaching them divine things he was making them superior to ordinary men. The apostle states, "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, the old has passed away." (2 Cor 5:17) We are aware that in our resurrection the body is joined to the spirit in such a way that everything which was controlled by the passions is taken up into the power of the spirit. And so it is fitting for someone who follows God to imitate his own resurrection every day. At the time of anyone's resurrection there will be nothing that is able to be influenced by the passions in his body. And so, let such a one at the present time have nothing that is able to influenced by the passions in his heart. Let such a one also be a new creation according to the interior man and trample whatever is uttered from the past, examining the language of former times solely for the fuel of his renewal."

(http://www.sage.edu/faculty/salomd/nyssa/great.html)

As we are in the Paschal season, I include with a short quote from St. Ambrose of Milan in which he interprets the following verses in the light of Christ's Resurrection:

"Arise, my darling,
my beautiful one, and come with me.

See! The winter is past;
the rains are over and gone.

Flowers appear on the earth;

the season of singing has come,
the cooing of doves
is heard in our land."
(Song of Songs 2:10-12)

“Arise, come, my dearest one.” that is, arise from the pleasures of the world, arise from earthly things and come to me, you who still labor and are burdened, because you are anxious about worldly things.

Come over the world, come to me, because I have overcome the world. Come near, for now you are fair with the beauty of eternal life, now you are a dove, that is, you are gentle and mild, now you are filled entirely with spiritual grace...

“Winter is now past”; that is, [Pascha] has come, pardon has come, the forgiveness of sins has arrived, temptation has ceased, the rain is gone, the storm is gone, and the affliction. Before the coming of Christ it is winter. After his coming there are flowers. On this account he says, “The flowers appear on earth.” Where before there were thorns, now flowers are there. “The time of pruning has come.” Where before there was desert, the harvest is there. “The voice of the dove is heard in our land.”

-St. Ambrose of Milan, "On Isaac, of The Soul"
(http://books.google.com/books?id=cMxzdmLEL8UC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Proverbs,+Ecclesiastes,+Song+of+Solomon+By+John+Robert+Wright,+Thomas+C.+Oden&source=bl&ots=pgC37hCnZH&sig=V5CMm7dbQylCtrYaYdHu_9acqS0&hl=en&ei=Mb_YS-_iHpCS8gTh0KGoBw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CAYQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false)

Christ is risen from the dead, by death, trampling down upon death, and to those in the tombs, bestowing life!

Truly the Lord is risen!

Icons and the Song of Solomon

Greetings.

I found two beautiful pictures of frescos from the Monastery of St. John Makrinou, Megara (Greece). I've never seen any equivalents yet. From what I can tell, they are depictions of verses from the Song of Solomon in the Old Testement. They are obviously depicting Christ in the icons, so they are interpreting the beautiful poetry of the Song as "eros" for Jesus Christ. They aren't very high resolution, so I can only pick out some of the verses, but here is what I can determine below (along with my amateur translation and rearrangement, after consulting with http://sepd.biblos.com/songs/8.htm and http://www.fourmilab.ch/etexts/www/Bible/Song_of_Solomon.html).
  
Note: thanks to Pigi Zois for the images (specifically: http://www.pigizois.net/ieres_mones/i_m_ag_ioanou/i_m_ag_ioanni_megara.htm)
  
Quotes gleaned from the first icon (from the Song of Solomon):
  
-(Song of Solomon 8:6-7) κραταιὰ ὡς θάνατος ἀγάπη...περίπτερα αὐτῆς φλόγες πυρός; ὕδωρ πολὺ οὐ δυνήσεται σβέσαι τὴν ἀγάπην καὶ ποταμοὶ οὐ συγκλύσουσιν αὐτήν

love is strong as death...its coals are flames of fire; Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it.

-(5:10) ἀδελφιδός μου λευκὸς καὶ πυρρός

My beloved is white and ruddy

-(4:12) κῆπος κεκλεισμένος ἀδελφή μου νύμφη πηγὴ ἐσφραγισμένη

A garden inclosed is my sister, my bride; a fountain sealed

-(2:16) ἀδελφιδός μου ἐμοί κἀγὼ αὐτῷ ὁ ποιμαίνων ἐν τοῖς κρίνοις

My beloved is mine, and I am his: he feedeth among the lilies.
  
Quotes gleaned from the second icon (from the Song of Solomon):
  
-(Song of Solomon 7:12) ὀρθρίσωμεν εἰς ἀμπελῶνας
Let us get up early to the vineyards

-(7:6) τί ὡραιώθης καὶ τί ἡδύνθης ἀγάπη ἐν τρυφαῖς σου!
How fair and how pleasant art thou, O love, for delights!
    
-(2:8) μου ἰδοὺ οὗτος ἥκει πηδῶν ἐπὶ τὰ ὄρη διαλλόμενος ἐπὶ τοὺς βουνούς
He cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills
  
-(2:2) ἀκανθῶν οὕτως ἡ πλησίον μου
my love is as thorns [This seems to be bridging two different phrases and I'm going to guess the meaning that the iconographer is implying is different than the translation given in the link above. However, it makes sense as it is possibly referring to Christ's love as a two-edged sword.]
  
-(2:5) στοιβάσατέ με ἐν μήλοις ὅτι τετρωμένη ἀγάπης ἐγώ
comfort me with apples: for I am sick of love.
  
-(2:9) ὅμοιός ἐστιν ἀδελφιδός μου τῇ δορκάδι ἢ νεβρῷ ἐλάφων
My beloved is like a roe or a young hart.
    
What a beautiful expression of the person of Christ and His Love for us, and the love that the righteous show Him in return! May God have mercy on us, so that before our end we might be able to offer an infinitesimally small sign of our love to Christ! Amen!