Seeking Him

In lectulo meo quaesivi per noctes quem diligit anima mea: quaesivi illum et non inveni. Surgam et circuibo civitatem, per vicos et plateas quaeram quem diligit anima mea: quaesivi illum et non inveni. Invenerunt me vigiles qui custodiunt civitatem. Num quem diligit anima mea vidistis? Paululum cum pertransissem eos, inveni quem diligit anima mea: tenui illum, nec dimittam donec introducam eum in domum matris meae, et in cubiculum genitricis meae. In lectulo meo. Vox minorum, et ubi ostenditur conversio minorum, manifestatur effectus praedicationis majorum, ac si ita responderent modo minores: Tu, mater nostra, precaris Deum ut nos inspiret, quod nobis necesse est, quia aliter ad ipsum venire non possumus, quia per priorem vitam voluptatum nostrarum invenire ipsum non possumus, et hoc est quod dicit: In lectulo meo, hoc est, in mundanis voluptatibus, in quibus omnino quiescebam, quaesivi illum. Mens enim cujusque naturaliter somniat bonum et investigat. Quaesivi illum dico, sed per noctes, id est per ignorantias, scilicet per haec temporalia, ut si quis per divitias exspectat sufficientiam. Illum quidem quem modo diligit anima mea, id est tota affectio mentis meae, et non inveni illum. Non enim potest aliquis Deum adipisci per has dilectiones. Quod bis ponit quaesivi, notat affectionem quaerentis, et multiplicitatem inquisitionis. Surgam, etc. Quia in lectulo non inveni, ideo surgam a lectulo, scilicet relinquam mundi appetitum. Et circuibo, scilicet fragiles diligenter convertam, et inquiram cognitionem Dei, civitatem, scilicet matrem meam Hierusalem, convocationem quidem sanctorum, quae mihi praedicavit, per vicos, id est inquirendo ab illis qui strictiora praecepta sectantur. Per plateas accipimus illos qui laxiora praecepta sequuntur, ut conjugatos quibus licitum est mundo uti. Quaesivi illum et non inveni. Ponit causam quare ab istis quaerat quoniam prius quaesivi ubi non erat, et non inveni. Invenerunt me. Dixi surgam, surrexi et quaesivi; et me quaerentem invenerunt, id est meam affectionem cognoverunt vigiles, id est sancti pastores qui custodiunt Ecclesiam Dei. Cum dicit se prius inventam quam invenisse, notat nobis vigilantiam et diligentiam quam debent habere pastores in Ecclesia, scilicet ut ex quo movetur aliquis compunctione, parati sint pastores ut eum commoneant, et ad notitiam Dei pertrahant. Num quem diligit. Invenerunt me vigiles ita dicentem eis: Num vidistis? id est cognitionem amici mei habuistis; per hoc quod dicit prius locutum quaerentem, cum prius a vigilibus inventus esset, notat diligentiam et magnam affectionem quaerentis. Paululum. Quaesivi ab illis, sed eorum ostensione contenta non fui, sed transivi altius quaerendo eum, et per ipsos, quia ipsi me instruxerunt quomodo eum quaerere debemus, et tandem inveni, scilicet bonitatem et dulcedinem aliquantulum degustavi; paululum ideo dicit, quia sine magno labore cognito Dei habetur. Ex quo enim percipit Deus affectionem quaerentis, ipse seipsum offert, et sponte ingerit. Inveni dico et tenui, id est firmiter adhaesi: nec dimittam donec introducam eum in domum matris meae, id est in plenitudinem gentilitatis, quae me in carnalibus desideriis educavit, et in cubiculum genitricis meae, id est, donec faciam aliquos de gentibus sibi lectulum in quo quiescat sine offensa. Matrem dicit quantum ad educationem, genitricem quantum ad creationem: et notatur hic Ecclesia in eo statu in quo plenitudo gentium subintravit. Anselmus Laudunensis, Enarrationes in Cantica canticorum, Caput III Source: Migne PL 162.1202a-1203a

On my bed through the night I sought him whom my soul loves, I sought him and I did not find him. I shall rise up and I shall go about the city, through the streets and through the squares I shall seek him whom my soul loves. I sought him and I did not find him. The watchmen of the city found me. Have you seen him whom my soul loves? A little while after I had passed them, I found him whom my soul loves. I held him, and I shall not let go until I bring him into the house of my mother, into the bed chamber of she who bore me.' 1 'On my bed.' The voice of the lesser, and where is shown the behaviour of the lesser, the effect of the preaching of the greater is made manifest, as if the lesser had responded, 'You, my mother, pray to God that he inspires us with which is needful for us, because otherwise we cannot come to Him, because by the prior life of our pleasures we cannot find him.' And this is what she says: 'On my bed' that is, in worldly pleasures, in which I slept deeply, 'I sought him,' for her mind naturally dreams of the good and seeks it. 'I sought him' I say, but 'though the night', that is, in ignorance, obviously through temporal things, as if someone hoped wealth would be sufficient. That one 'whom my soul loves,' that is, with the total affection of the mind. 'And I did not find him,' for it is not possible that anyone reach God through these loves. Because she twice states, 'I sought,' note the desire of the seeker, and the multiplicity of the seeking. 'I shall rise...' Because I did not find on my bed then I shall rise from it, I shall forsake the desire of the world. 'I shall go about' that is, diligently I shall turn from weak things, and I shall seek the knowledge of God. 'The city,' that is, my mother Jerusalem, the gathering of the saints, who have preached to me. 'Through the streets,' that is enquiring of those who follow stricter teachings. 'Through the squares, ' we understand those who follow easier teachings, as joined to what is permitted in the world. 'I sought him and did not find him.' I give the reason why I sought from them, because before I sought where He was not, and I did not find him. They 'found me.' I said I shall rise, and I rose and sought, and they found me seeking, that is, the watchmen knew my love, who are the holy shepherds who guard the Church of God. When she says she was found rather than finding, let the vigilance and the diligence that should be possessed by the shepherds of the Church be noted by us, which is that when someone is moved by compunction, the shepherds are prepared to instruct him, and to draw him to the knowledge of God. 'Him who my soul loves' The watchmen found me saying to them, 'Have you seen Him?' That is, do you have knowledge of my love? And that this is what the seeker spoke before she was found by the watchmen, let the great diligence of the seeker be noted. 'A little after,' I sought from them, and because I was not contented with their showing, I passed to a higher seeking of him, and yet also through them, because they instructed me how one should seek. And at last 'I found,' that is, I tasted a certain goodness and sweetness. Therefore I said 'a little after,' because the knowledge of God may be had without great labour, for since God perceives the love of the seeker, He offers Himself, and of His own will He brings Himself. 'I found,' I say, and 'I held,' that is, I adhered firmly. 'Nor did I let him go until I brought Him into the house of my mother,' that is, into the multitude of the Gentiles, she who raised me in carnal desires. 'And into the bed chamber of her who bore me,' that is, until I shall make some from the Gentiles a couch on which he may rest without disturbance. She says 'mother' as much as it concerns raising and 'she who bore me' as much as it concerns begetting, and let it be noted here that in this way the Church comes into the multitude of the peoples. Anselm of Laon, Commentary On The Song Of Songs, Chapter 3 1 Song 3.1-4