Praise And Fragrance

Τοιοῦτον δὲ προσαγαγὼν τῷ στόματί τε καὶ τῇ γλώσσῃ τῆς νύμφης τὸν ἔπαινον πάλιν πρὸς τὰ μείζω τῶν ἐγκωμίων μετέρχεται λέγων ὅτι Ὀσμὴ ἱματίων σου ὡς ὀσμὴ λιβάνου. Ὁ δὲ λόγος οὗτος φιλοσοφία τίς ἐστιν εἰς ὅτι βλέπει τοῖς ἀνθρώποις ὁ κατ’ ἀρετὴν βίος ὑποδεικνύων· πέρας γὰρ τῆς ἐναρέτου ζωῆς ἡ πρὸς τὸ θεῖόν ἐστιν ὁμοίωσις· καὶ τούτου χάριν ἥ τε τῆς ψυχῆς καθαρότης καὶ τὸ πάσης ἐμπαθοῦς διαθέσεως ἀνεπίμικτον δι’ ἐπιμελείας κατορθοῦται τοῖς ἐναρέτοις, ὥστε τινὰ χαρακτῆρα τῆς ὑπερκειμένης φύσεως διὰ τῆς ἀστειοτέρας ζωῆς καὶ ἐν αὐτοῖς γενέσθαι. Ἐπειδὴ τοίνυν οὐ μονοειδής τίς ἐστιν οὐδὲ μονότροπος ἡ κατ’ ἀρετὴν πολιτεία, ἀλλ’ ὥσπερ ἐπὶ τῆς τῶν ὑφασμάτων κατασκευῆς διὰ πολλῶν νημάτων, τῶν μὲν ἐπ’ εὐθείας ἀνατεταμένων τῶν δὲ κατὰ τὸ πλάγιον διῃρμένων, ἡ ὑφαντικὴ τέχνη τὴν ἐσθῆτα ποιεῖ, οὕτω καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς ἐναρέτου ζωῆς πολλὰ χρὴ συνδραμεῖν, δι’ ὧν ὁ ἀστεῖος ἐξυφαίνεται βίος, καθὼς ἀπαριθμεῖται τὰ τοιαῦτα νήματα ὁ θεῖος ἀπόστολος, δι’ ὧν ἡ τῶν καθαρῶν ἔργων ἱστουργία συνίσταται, ἀγάπην λέγων καὶ χαρὰν καὶ εἰρήνην, μακροθυμίαν τε καὶ χρηστότητα καὶ πάντα τὰ τοιαῦτα, οἷς κατακοσμεῖται ὁ ἐκ τοῦ φθαρτοῦ τε καὶ γηΐνου βίου τὴν οὐράνιον ἀφθαρσίαν μετενδυόμενος, τούτου χάριν ἀποδέχεται τὸν ἐν τῇ ἐσθῆτι κόσμον τῆς νύμφης ὡς τῷ λιβάνῳ κατὰ τὴν ὀσμὴν ὁμοιούμενον. Kαίτοι γε πρὸ τούτου πάντων εἶπε τῶν ἀρωμάτων προέχειν τὴν τοῦ μύρου τῆς νύμφης εὐωδίαν, ὡς δοκεῖν ἐν τούτῳ καθαίρεσιν εἶναι τῶν ἐγκωμίων, εἴπερ ἡ παντὸς ἀρώματος ὑπερτεθεῖσα νῦν πρὸς ἓν τῶν ἀρωμάτων ὁμοιοῦται διὰ συγκρίσεως, οὕτως εἰπόντος τοῦ λόγου ὅτι κατὰ τὴν ὀσμὴν τοῦ λιβάνου ἡ τῶν ἱματίων σού ἐστιν εὐωδία. Ἀλλ’ ἐπειδὴ ἰδιαζόντως κατά τινα λόγον εἰς τὴν τοῦ θείου τιμὴν ἀποτεταγμένον ἦν τὸ τοῦ λιβάνου θυμίαμα, τούτου χάριν ἡ ὑπὲρ πάντα τὰ ἀρώματα εἶναι κριθεῖσα ἀξιοῦται τῆς πρὸς τὸ ἓν ἄρωμα ὁμοιώσεως τὸ τῷ θεῷ ἀνακείμενον, ὡς τὸ νόημα τοῦ αἰνίγματος τοιοῦτον εἶναι ὅτι· σοί, ὦ νύμφη, τῶν ἀρετῶν ἡ περιβολὴ τὴν θείαν μιμεῖται μακαριότητα διὰ καθαρότητός τε καὶ ἀπαθείας τῇ ἀπροσίτῳ φύσει ὁμοιουμένη· τοιαύτη γάρ, φησίν, ἡ τῶν σῶν ἱματίων ὀσμή, ὡς πρὸς τὸν λίβανον ἐμφερῶς ἔχειν τὸν ἀνακείμενον εἰς τὴν τοῦ θείου τιμήν. Ἅγιος Γρηγόριος Νύσσης, Ἐξηγησις Του Αἰσματος Των Ἀσμάτων, Ὁμιλία θʹ Source: Migne PG 44.960d-961c

Having acclaimed the mouth and the tongue of the bride in this manner, He again passes on to a higher order of praise, saying, 'The fragrance of your garments is as the fragrance of frankincense.' 1 This statement is something philosophical, since it indicates to men what the life according virtue should be, for the limit that the virtuous life approaches is likeness to the Divine, and for the sake of this both the purity of the soul and its separation from every disposition of passion are carefully achieved in the virtuous, so that they receive a certain impression of the transcendent Nature through the greater nobility of their life. Then since the virtuous life is not uniform and does not have a single style, for as the art of weaving a garment is performed with the use of many threads, some being stretched vertically and others horizontally, thus even in the the virtuous life many things must twine together if a noble life is to be fashioned, so the holy Apostle enumerates such threads, through which pure works are woven together on the loom, speaking of love and joy and peace and patience and kindness and all such things that adorn the one who from a corruptible and earthly life is putting on the garment of heavenly incorruptibility, 2 for which reason the adornment of the Bride’s garment is likened in its fragrance to be like frankincense. Certainly the Bridegroom earlier said that the sweet smell of the Bride's perfume excelled all the spices, and thus it seems that if she who surpassed all spices is now likened to one particular spice, as the Word says with, 'The sweet smell of your clothing conforms to the fragrance of frankincense,' then it appears to nullify his previous tributes, but since for some reason frankincense was set apart for the honour of the Deity, she who was deemed to be above all spices is reckoned worthy of being likened to the particular spice that is dedicated to God, and so the meaning of the mystery is this, 'O bride, your garment of virtues is like the Divine blessedness since its purity and impassibility is like the unapproachable Nature. For,' he says, 'the scent of your garments is such as to possess a resemblance to that frankincense that is dedicated to the honouring of God.' Saint Gregory of Nyssa, Commentary on The Song of Songs, from Homily 9 1 Song 4.11 2 Galat 5.22, 1 Cor 15.53