Drawn Away

Trahe me post te, in odore unguentorum tuorum curremus. Quid? sponsane ergo necesse habet trahi, et hoc post sponsum? Quasi vero invita eum, et non libens sequatur. Sed non omnis qui trahitur, invitus trahitur. Nec enim infirmum aut debilem, eum videlicet qui per se ire non valet, trahi ad balneum, seu ad prandium piget, etsi reum pigeat trahi ad judicium, vel ad poenam. Denique trahi vult quae et hoc rogat: non autem rogaret, si sequi per se ipsam dilectum, prout vellet, valeret. Utquid vero non valet? an infirmam fateamur et sponsam? Si una quaevis ex adolescentulis infirmam se diceret, et peteret trahi, nequaquam miraremur. At vero de sponsa, quae trahere et alios, utpote fortis et perfecta, posse sufficere videbatur: cui non durum sonet, quod et ipsa trahi, tanquam infirma vel debilis, necesse habeat? De quanam anima jam confidimus quod valida sit et sana, si illam infirmam dici consenserimus, quae pro sui singulari perfectione et excellentiori virtute sponsa Domini nominatur? An Ecclesia forte id dixerit, cum intueretur dilectum ascendentem, gestiens eum sequi, atque assumi cum ipso in gloria? Quanquam et quantaevis perfectionis anima, quamdiu quidem gemit sub corpore mortis hujus, et hujus saeculi nequam retinetur inclusa carcere, vincta necessitatibus, torta sceleribus, lentius segniusque assurgat necesse est ad contemplanda sublimia, nec omnino liberum habet sequi sponsum quocunque ierit. Hinc lacrymosa vox illa gementis: Infelix ego homo, quis me liberabit de corpore mortis hujus? Hinc supplex illa precatio: Educ de carcere animam meam. Dicat proinde, dicat cum gemitu etiam sponsa: Trahe me post te; quia corpus quod corrumpitur, aggravat animam, et deprimit terrena inhabitatio sensum multa cogitantem. An hoc dicat cupiens dissolvi et esse cum Christo, praesertim dum videat eas, propter quas manere ipsam in carne necessarium videbatur, bene proficientes amare jam sponsum, et stare in tuto charitatis? Siquidem hoc praemiserat: Propterea, inquiens, adolescentulae dilixerunt te. Nunc ergo quasi dicat, Ecce adolescentulae amant te, et amando firmiter inhaerent tibi, meque minime jam opus habent, nulla mihi causa in hac vita ulterius commorandi; idcirco ait, Trahe me post te. Sanctus Bernardus Clarae Vallensis, In Cantica Canticorum, Sermo XXI, Qualiter sponsa, id est Ecclesia, trahi se optat post sponsum, id est Christum. Source: Migne PL 183.872b-873a

Draw me after you, in the fragrance of your ointments we shall run. 1 What? Is it necessary then to drag the bride, and this after the groom? Is it that she is unwilling and unhappy to follow him? But not all who are dragged are unwilling to be taken. Neither the infirm or the lame, who are not able to go themselves, refuse to be carried off to the baths, or to a feast, even if it shames a guilty man to be dragged to judgement, or punishment. And then she who wishes to be dragged asks for it to be so, and would not ask if she herself were able, as much as she wished it, to follow her beloved. But how was she not capable? Shall we say that the bride was infirm? If one of the maidens had said she was infirm from her youth, and then asked to be dragged, we would not need to wonder. But concerning the bride, she who seemed to draw others, she who was strong and perfect, does it seem possible that it might be that she cries out to be carried off, as if she were one who is infirm or incapable? How shall we have the confidence to allow the strength and vitality of any soul, if we admit her weakness, which for its singular perfection and excellence of virtue is named the bride of the Lord? But perhaps the Church says this when it looks on its beloved ascendant, desiring to follow Him, and to be taken up with Him in glory? Whatever and how much perfection of soul there might be, yet it groans beneath this body of death, and being shut up in the prison of this wicked world, fettered with necessities, tormented with crimes, it is necessary that it rise up slowly and sluggishly to sublime contemplation, and it does not have the freedom to follow the groom wherever he may go. Hence that tearful voice cries out: 'I am a wretched man, who will free me from this body of death?' 2 Hence the supplicating plea: 'Lead my soul from prison.' 3 Accordingly with a groan the bride may say: 'Draw me after you, because the body which corrupts burdens the soul, and the earthly dwelling crushes down the mind with many thoughts.' 4 Is it not this she says who desires to be dissolved and to be with Christ, especially while she sees those on account of which it might seems necessary to remain in this flesh, making good progress in the love of the groom and standing in the protection of charity? 5 Which she had already touched on, saying 'Therefore the maidens love you.' 6 Now it as if she says, 'Behold, the maidens love you, and in that loving they are firmly bound to you. They hardly have need of me now, there is no may reason to linger in this life.' Therefore she says, 'Draw me after you.' Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, Commentary On The Song of Songs, from Sermon 31, In what way the bride, who is the Church, desires to be drawn after the groom, who is Christ. 1 Song 1.4 2 Rom 7.24 3 Ps 141.8 4 Wisd 9.15 5 Philip 1.23-24 6 Song 1.3