Christ sets forth the graces of his spouse: and declares his love for her.

¹ Groom to Bride: How beautiful you are, my love, how beautiful you are! Your eyes are those of a dove, except for what is hidden within. Your hair is like flocks of goats, which ascend along the mountain of Gilead.¹²

1. 4:1If one translates ‘ascenderunt de’ in an overly literal manner, it would seem to say ‘ascend from.’ But the word ‘de’ actually has a broader range of meaning than the English word ‘from.’ The flock is going higher up the mountain, but they are not ascending as quickly and directly as they could, nor are they going all the way to the top, so they ‘ascend along.’ +The Church shows its peacefulness and holiness, yet She has depths that are hidden within and not apparent to most observers. The Virgin Mary likewise is easily seen to be as peaceful as a dove, yet she has hidden depths that are mostly unknown.(Conte)
2. 4:1How beautiful are you: Christ again praises the beauties of his church, which through the whole of this chapter are exemplified by a variety of metaphors, setting forth her purity, her simplicity, and her stability.(Challoner)

² Your teeth are like flocks of shorn sheep, which ascend from the washing, each one with its identical twin, and not one among them is barren.¹

1. 4:2The groom describes the beauty of his bride; her outer beauty symbolizes her inner beauty. +The Church is shorn in the sense that it is like a flock providing wool to clothe the world in truth and holiness. The Church is fertile in its works of mercy, not barren.(Conte)

³ Your lips are like a scarlet ribbon, and your eloquence is sweetness. Like a piece of pomegranate, so are your cheeks, except for what is hidden within.¹

1. 4:3The groom knows that her outer beauty in one sense reveals, and in another sense hides, her inner beauty. +The Church is eloquent in its teachings of truth, which are sweet to the souls of the righteous, yet so much more is hidden within, never completely reachable in this life. So also with the Virgin Mary: her holiness and inner beauty is known, and yet so much more about her is known only to Christ and to God.(Conte)

⁴ Your neck is like the tower of David, which was built with ramparts: a thousand shields are hanging from it, all the armor of the strong.¹

1. 4:4The groom describes his bride using the metaphor of a fortress of war. +This image of the tower with a thousand shields is cited in Ineffabilis Deus as a symbolism describing the Virgin Mary, therefore, this is the groom describing the bride. Her strength is from God and is found in God, so she is like an impregnable in her holiness and faith. Also, the neck is what supports the head, and the Church herself supports its head (the Pope leading the Bishops) with the strength and fortitude of a fortress of war.(Conte)

⁵ Your two breasts are like two young does, twins that pasture among the lilies.¹²

1. 4:5The groom describes his bride’s exterior beauty, but her feminine beauty is symbolic of her interior beauty. The expression ‘pasture among the lilies’ shows her peacefulness and holiness. The lilies are the Saints. +The metaphorical breasts of the Church are the belief and practice of the Faith. One can also say that Tradition and Scripture are the breasts that nurse the children of the Faith, feeding them the pure milk of infallible truth.(Conte)
2. 4:5Thy two breasts, etc: Mystically to be understood: the love of God and the love of our neighbour, which are so united as twins which feed among the lilies: that is, the love of God and our neighbour, feeds on the divine mysteries and the holy sacraments, left by Christ to his spouse to feed and nourish her children.(Challoner)

⁶ Until the day rises and the shadows decline, I will go to the mountain of myrrh and to the hill of frankincense.¹

1. 4:6The groom uses the same wording previously used by his bride, except that she said he would act until the day rises and the shadows decline, whereas he now says ‘I will’ act until the day rises and the shadows decline. So this must be the groom speaking. +The Christ is here symbolized by myrrh, for his suffering and death, and frankincense, for His prayers to the Father. His suffering and prayer makes the daylight of truth and holiness increase and the shadows of death and sin decline.(Conte)

⁷ You are totally beautiful, my love, and there is no blemish in you.¹

1. 4:7The groom finds no fault in his bride, his love. +Christ finds no fault at all in the Virgin Mary, who is totally beautiful and immaculate (without blemish). The Church also is, and will be, totally beautiful and without blemish.(Conte)

⁸ Advance from Lebanon, my spouse, advance from Lebanon, advance. You shall be crowned at the head of Amana, near the summit of Senir and Hermon, by the dens of lions, by the mountains of leopards.¹

1. 4:8The word spouse (‘sponsa’) is feminine, so this is the groom speaking about his bride. The groom will exalt his humble bride, who formerly tended to vineyards and was mistreated by her brothers; he will crown her near the tops of mountains, away from the habitations of men. +The Christ calls his bride the Church to advance in holiness and in influence over the whole world. Many holy and devout Catholic Christians will live in Lebanon, the Middle East, and in northern Africa during the reign of the great monarch and the angelic shepherd. So many Christians will flock to the Holy Land to live there, in Israel, that the surrounding nations will become like the suburbs of Jerusalem, all the way through northern Africa and the Middle East, even though in those nations which are not now Christian and not now holy.(Conte)

⁹ You have wounded my heart, my sister, my spouse. You have wounded my heart with one look of your eyes, and with one lock of hair on your neck.¹

1. 4:9The phrase ‘uno crine colli tui’ does not literally refer to a hair growing out of her neck; rather it refers to a lock or tress of hair resting on her neck. +The neck supports the head; the support that the faithful offer to the heads of the Church, to the Pope and the Bishops, wounds Christ’s heart with joy. The eyes of the Church are its teachings; the understanding and acceptance of Church teaching wounds Christ’s heart with joy.(Conte)

¹⁰ How beautiful are your breasts, my sister, my spouse! Your breasts are more beautiful than wine, and the fragrance of your ointments is above all aromatic oils.¹

1. 4:10Aromatics are such because they contain various kinds of oils. The groom is extolling his brides exterior beauty, which is symbolic of her inner beauty. +The Christ extols the beauty of His Church; the breasts of the Church are the belief and practice of the Faith; the breasts of the Church are its teachings from Tradition and Scripture, which the faithful see as beautiful and fragrant. The ointments of the Church are its teachings and Sacraments, which heal body and soul.(Conte)

¹¹ Your lips, my spouse, are a dripping honeycomb; honey and milk are under your tongue. And the fragrance of your garments is like the odor of frankincense.¹

1. 4:11The groom admires the words of his spouse (‘sponsa’), using the metaphors of honey and milk. Even the fragrance of her garments is admirable, which indicates symbolically the extent of her inner beauty. +The Christ admires the words of His Church; the words of the Church are sweet to the soul, and nourishing to the body, like honey and milk. The fragrance of the Church is Her prayers, for incense rises up to God like prayer.(Conte)

¹² An enclosed garden is my sister, my spouse: an enclosed garden, a sealed fountain.¹²³

1. 4:12The groom extols the virginity and general faithfulness of his spouse; the garden of her body and her soul are pure and unspoiled. +The Christ extols the virginity and faithfulness of the Virgin Mary, and also of the Church. Virginity is more than faithfulness in body, it is also faithfulness in soul.(Conte)
2. 4:12My sister, etc., a garden enclosed: Figuratively the church is enclosed, containing only the faithful.(Challoner)
3. 4:12A fountain sealed up: That none can drink of its waters, that is, the graces and spiritual benefits of the holy sacraments, but those who are within its walls.(Challoner)

¹³ You send forth a paradise of pomegranates along with the fruits of the orchard: Cypress grapes, with aromatic oil;¹

1. 4:13The phrase ‘malorum punicorum’ refers to Punician ‘apples,’ i.e. pomegranates. Again, the term ‘Cypri’ in the context of fruits of a garden refers to Cypress grapes. (These grapes were valued above other grapes because of the renown of the vineyards and wines of Cyprus.) The word ‘nardo’ is translated as ‘aromatic oil’ because that plant was used to make aromatic oil, and because ‘nard’ or ‘spikenard’ is unrecognizable to most readers. +To Christ, the Church is an orchard sending forth its fruits throughout the world.(Conte)

¹⁴ aromatic oil and saffron; sweet cane and cinnamon, with all the trees of Lebanon; myrrh and aloe, with all the best ointments.¹

1. 4:14The trees of Lebanon produced some of the best wood of Biblical times. Ointments were used as perfumes, but also as remedies for various ailments. +The Church provides not only food for the soul, but a house (from fine wood) in which to worship God, and ointments to heal all that ails us.(Conte)

¹⁵ The fountain of the gardens is a well of living waters, which flow forcefully from Lebanon.¹

1. 4:15The groom uses the metaphor of a well-watered garden to describe his bride. The term ‘living waters’ refers to flowing clean water, as opposed to stagnant and contaminated water. +The Church provides living waters to the faithful, beginning with their baptism, and continuing with all the gifts of the Holy Spirit.(Conte)

¹⁶ Rise up, north wind, and advance, south wind. Send a breeze through my garden, and carry its aromatic scents.¹

1. 4:16The groom uses this metaphor to say that he wants his bride to be appreciated for her inner and outer beauty far and wide, to the north and the south. +Christ, the groom, wants the Church, His Bride, to be known and loved throughout the world.(Conte)