The Garden of the Soul

Hinc hortum illum sibi Plato composuit, quem Jovis hortum alibi, alibi hortum mentis appellavit. Jovem enim et deum et mentem totius mundi dixit. In hunc introisse animam, quam Venerem nuncupat, ut se abundantia et divitiis hujus horti repleret, in quo repletus potu jaceret porus, qui nectar effunderet. Hoc igitur ex libro Canticorum composuit, eo quod anima Deo adhaerens in hortum mentis ingressa sit, in quo esset abundantia diversarum virtutum, floresque sermonum. Quis autem ignorat quod ex paradiso illo, quem legimus in Genesi habentem lignum vitae, et lignum scientiae boni et mali , et ligna caetera, abundantiam virtutum putaverit transferendam, et in horto mentis esse plantandam? Quem in Canticis canticorum Salomon hortum animae significavit, vel ipsam animam. Sic enim scriptum est: 'Hortus clausus, soror mea sponsa, hortus clausus, fons signatus, transmissiones tuae paradisus.' Et infra ait anima: Exsurge, aquilo, et veni, auster, perfla hortum meum, et defluant unguenta mea. Descendat frater meus in hortum suum. Quanto hoc pulchrius quod anima ornata virtutum floribus hortus sit, vel in se paradisum habeat germinantem. In quem hortum invitat Verbum Dei descendere, ut anima illa Verbi imbre coelestis, et ejus copiis irrigata fructificet. Verbum autem Dei pascitur animae virtutibus,quoties obedientem sibi et opimam invenerit, et carpit fructus ejus, atque his delectatur. Cum autem descenderit in eam Dei Verbum, defluunt ex ea salubrium unguenta verborum, et diversarum flagrant longe lateque redolentia gratiarum spiramina. Sanctus Ambrosius Mediolanensis, De Bono Mortis, Cap V

Hence that garden which Plato arranged, which elsewhere he named the garden of Zeus, or the garden of the mind. For Zeus he named both god and the mind of the whole world. Into this entered the soul, which he called Venus, that it take its fill of the abundance and riches of the garden, in which Plenty replete with drink lay, pouring forth nectar.1 This is derived from the book of the Song of Songs, by which the soul adhering to God enters into the garden of the mind, in which there are an abundance of diverse virtues and flowers of words. For who is ignorant that from that paradise, which we read in Genesis possessed the tree of life, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,2 and other trees, Plato has thought to transfer the abundance of virtues and plant it in the garden of the mind, that which in the Song of Songs Solomon names the garden of the soul, meaning the soul itself? So it is written, 'An enclosed garden, my sister bride, an enclosed garden, a fountain sealed , going though your paradise.'3 And below the soul says, ' Rise up, north wind, and come, south wind, blow through my garden and let flow my scents. Let my brother come down into his own garden.'4 How much more beautiful a garden is a soul adorned with the flowers of virtue, or which in itself has planted paradise. In which garden he invites the Word of God to descend, that the soul with rain of the heavenly Word watered may bear rich fruit. The word of God feeds on the virtues of the soul, as many times as it finds it richly obedient, and he picks its fruit and with them he is delighted. When indeed the Word of God  descends into it, there flows from his salutary words perfumes and a diversity of redolent graces is breathed out far and wide. Saint Ambrose, On the Good of Death, Chap. 5 1 cf Plato, Symposium 203b 2 Gen. 2.8 3 Song 4.12 -13  4 Song 4. 16