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| What the True and Seemly Manner of Praising; The Father Greater Than the Son, Not in Substance, But in Order; Virginity the Lily; Faithful Souls and Virgins, the One Bride of the One Christ.
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Discourse VII.—Procilla.
Chapter I.—What the True and
Seemly Manner of Praising; The Father Greater Than the Son, Not in
Substance, But in Order; Virginity the Lily; Faithful Souls and
Virgins, the One Bride of the One Christ.
It is not lawful for me to delay, O Arete, after
such discourses, seeing that I confide undoubtingly in the manifold
wisdom of God, which gives richly and widely to whomsoever it
wills. For sailors who have experience of the sea declare that
the same wind blows on all who sail; and that different persons,
managing their course differently, strive to reach different
ports. Some have a fair wind; to others it blows across their
course; and yet both easily accomplish their voyage. Now, in the
same way, the “understanding Spirit,2680
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πνεῦμα here and for
wind above. | holy, one only,”2681
gently breathing down from the
treasures of the Father above, giving us all the clear fair wind of
knowledge, will suffice to guide the course of our words without
offence. And now it is time for me to speak. This, O
virgins, is the one true and seemly mode of praising, when he who
praises brings forward a witness better than all those who are
praised. For thence one may learn with certainty that the
commendation is given not from favour, nor of necessity, nor from
repute, but in accordance with truth and an unflattering
judgment. And so the prophets and apostles, who spoke more fully
concerning the Son of God, and assigned to Him a divinity above other
men, did not refer their praises of Him to the teaching of angels, but
to Him upon whom all authority and power depend. For it was
fitting that He who was greater than all things after the Father,
should have the Father, who alone is greater than Himself,2682
as His
witness. And so I will not bring forward the praises of virginity
from mere human report, but from Him who cares for us, and who has
taken up the whole matter, showing that He is the husbandman of this
grace, and a lover of its beauty, and a fitting witness. And this
is quite clear, in the Song of Songs,2683
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[That the Canticles demand allegorical interpretation, we may admit;
nor can I object to our author’s ideas here.] | to any one who is willing to see it,
where Christ Himself, praising those who are firmly established in
virginity, says,2684
“As
the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters;”
comparing the grace of chastity to the lily, on account of its purity
and fragrance, and sweetness and joyousness. For chastity is like
a spring flower, always softly exhaling immortality from its white
petals. Therefore He is not ashamed to confess that He loves the
beauty of its prime, in the following words:2685
“Thou hast ravished my
heart, my sister, my spouse; thou hast ravished my heart with one of
thine eyes, with one chain of thy neck. How fair is thy love, my
sister, my spouse! how much better is thy love than wine! and the smell
of thine ointments than all spices! Thy lips, O my spouse, drop
as the honeycomb; honey and milk are under thy tongue; and the smell of
thy garments is like the smell of Lebanon. A garden enclosed is
my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain
sealed.”
These praises does Christ proclaim to those who have
come to the boundaries of virginity, describing them all under the one
name of His spouse; for the spouse must be betrothed to the Bridegroom,
and called by His name. And, moreover, she must be undefiled and
unpolluted, as a garden sealed, in which all the odours of the
fragrance of heaven are grown, that Christ alone may come and gather
them, blooming with incorporeal seeds. For the Word loves none of
the things of the flesh, because He is not of such a nature as to be
contented with any of the things which are corruptible, as hands, or
face, or feet; but He looks upon
and delights in the beauty which is immaterial and spiritual, not
touching the beauty of the body. E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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