Evenings With Bede 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 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, 1.1

Let Him kiss me with the kiss of His mouth: for Your breasts are better than wine, the glowing ardor of the best ointments. Your name is oil poured out: therefore the young maidens have loved You. Draw me: we will run after You. The King has brought me into his chambers: we will exult and rejoice in You, remembering Your breasts more than wine: the righteous love You.

A Lesson from a Treatise by the Venerable S. Bede (p. 41)

Thus far it has been the voice of the synagogue (that is, of that people who with devout faith preceded the nativity of the Savior) who in the beginning of the Song responds to the prophets who had been predicting Him for a long time: Let Him kiss me with the kiss of His mouth—that is, “Let Him appear Himself, and speaking mouth to mouth (Num 12:8), let Him confer upon me examples of living and gifts.” In the short verses that follow thereafter, she (the synagogue) signified what manner of gifts of His these might be, and how much they ought to be loved by chaste souls. Here (when she says “Draw me, we will run after you”) she is joined by the voice of the Church, that is, of those who have come to faith after the time of His nativity. Earlier, the synagogue prayed that the Lord might come and give her the kiss of peace; now the Church, knowing that He has already come in the flesh and then returned to heave, no longer implores Him to come down to her in the same way, but desires rather that she might follow Him to heaven. But because she sees that she cannot do this by herself, rightly does she implore the aid of Him to Whom she wishes to come. Draw me, she says, we will run after You, as if she should say openly, “We were indeed desiring to run in Your ways, to follow in the footsteps of Your works which You marked out while You were living on the earth, to come to You as You are ruling in heaven; but because without You we can do nothing (Jn 15.5), we pray that You will deign to give us Your hand, that You will help us with Your support as we run toward you; for the only way we are able either to run rightly or to finish the course is if we run with You as our guide and helper.” Hence the Apostle Paul who properly boasts, saying “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith” (2 Tim 4:7), clearly teaches in another place whether he can direct his own way by himself and come to the Lord Who draws him, saying “But I worked harder than any of them—though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me (1 Cor 15:10). And when it is said in the singular number, Draw me, it is properly added, we will run, because the Church of Christ is one throughout the world, but it also consists of many faithful souls, which are in this passage called “young maidens” on account of the vitality of their new way of life.

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.

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