Evenings With Bede is a homily podcast. The episodes are taken from the Sunday solemn Plainsong Evensong services of Saint Paul’s, New Smyrna Beach, Fla., where I am Rector.
SEASON TWO is devoted to understanding the Song of Songs with the Venerable S. Bede as teacher, and yours truly as interpreter. We will go verse by verse through the entirety of the Song of Songs.
The format is a short passage from the Song of Songs, then comes commentary from the Bede, and finally an interpretive homily by yours truly expounding upon both. The audio for all three is found above. The text of the two passages is found below.
A Lesson from the Song of Songs, 1.5
I am black but beautiful, O daughters of Jerusalem. Like the tents of Kedar, like the curtains of Solomon. Do not think to consider me, for I am swarthy because the sun has discolored me. My mother’s children have fought against me and made me keeper of the vineyards; my own vineyard I have not kept. Show me, You Whom my soul loves, where You pasture your flock, where You lie down at midday; lest I begin to wander after the flocks of Your companions.
A Lesson from a Treatise by the Venerable S. Bede
The Bride then says, “Do not think to consider me, for I am swarthy because the sun has discolored me,” which is to say openly, “O daughters of Jerusalem (that is, souls devoted to God), do not think that I who am despised should be admired by people, because the fiery trials that I do not hesitate to endure for the sake of my internal beauty have rendered me dark on the outside; nevertheless, heavenly grace has granted that I should be lovely on the inside.” This is similar to that saying of the apostle S. Peter: “Dearly beloved, do not think to marvel at the fiery heat which has come upon you to test you, as though some unusual thing were happening to you, but rejoice that you are sharing Christ’s sufferings” (1 Pet 4.12-13). And surely the Lord Himself is at times signified by the word “sun,” as it is said of His Ascension: “The sun arose, and the moon stood still in its order” (Hab 3.10-11), and at times His elect, as He Himself says, “The righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father” (Mt 13.43). But in this place the heat of tribulations is more fittingly represented by the word “sun,” in accordance with what He Himself says concerning the seeds sown on rocky ground: “But when the sun rose they were scorched, and because they had no root they withered away” (Mt 13.6), which He afterward explains in this way: “And when tribulation and persecution arise on account of the Word, that person is immediately tempted into evil” (Mt 13.21), clearly declaring that tribulation and persecution are represented by the word “sun.” Therefore, just as those who remain quietly in the house often after fairer limbs, but the members of those who are employed in this vineyard or garden or in any other kind of outdoor work are very frequently darkened by the sun, so also the more earnestly holy Church prepares herself for spiritual combat, the more hotly inflamed are the assaults that the ancient enemy resolves to mount against her. And as often as “sinners are praised in the desires of their soul and evildoers are blessed” (Ps 10.3), just as frequently are they reproached by the righteous in the virtues of their own soul, and those who do right are reviled, as S. Paul testifies when he says: “We are reviled, and we bless; we suffer persecution, and we bear it; we are blasphemed, and we entreat” (1 Cor 4.12-13). But he teaches that the faithful ought to disregard the darkening caused by this blasphemy, or rather they ought to rejoice in it on account of what the Lord came forth saying: “Blessed are you when people revile you and persecute you and speak all that is evil against you” (Mt 5.11), and so forth.
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