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, 1.15

Behold, you are beautiful, my friend; behold, you are beautiful; your eyes are those of doves. Behold, You are beautiful, my love, and comely. Your couch is full of flowers. The beams of our houses are of cedar, our paneled ceilings of cypress wood.

A Lesson from a Treatise by the Venerable S. Bede

Thus far, the Church has been receiving from her Redeemer gifts that she invokes as tokens of love. Then He responds to her by way of reward: “Behold, you are beautiful, my friend; behold, you are beautiful; your eyes are those of doves.” It is as if He said, “Behold, you are beautiful in the pure works with which you live soberly and justly and piously in this world; behold, you are beautiful in the simplicity of heart with which you apply yourself to good deeds for the purpose of eternity alone, awaiting the blessed hope and coming of the glory of the great God. Your eyes are those of doves, the eyes of your heart are simple and pure and utterly free from all duplicity of deceiving or pretending; behold, they are greatly blessed because such eyes as these will see God.” And again as if He said, “Your eyes are as those of doves because your spiritual senses are endowed with understanding”; for since the Holy Spirit descended upon the Lord in the form of a dove, rightly are the spiritual senses and gifts signified by the terms “doves” or “those of doves.” Again, Christ’s friend has the eyes of a dove because every soul that truly loves Him inwardly in not like a bird of prey aroused by any craving for external things, nor does she contemplate any harm that she might inflict upon living things; for they say that the dove is gentle by nature and contemplates everything that happens with a heart that is simple, meek, and humble.

If you find this edifying, please consider (if you haven’t already) becoming a paid subscriber. Your support goes directly to supporting the ministry of Akenside Institute for English Spirituality, a project I started 12 years ago to help to rebuild the Anglican tradition.

Get full access to Anglican Ascetic Podcast at frmcdallman.substack.com/subscribe