Contemplations on the Song of Songs – Arise, my love, my fair one
Contemplations on the Song of Songs
The spiritual people read this book and grow in their love for God… but the carnal people need a guide when reading it, lest they misunderstand it and descend from its sublime meaning to worldly ones…
Let us continue our contemplations on the verse:
“The voice of my beloved! Behold, he comes leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills… Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away… For lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone… The flowers appear on the earth… the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.” (Song 2:10–14)
Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away…
“The voice of my beloved”—it is the voice of God reaching the soul.
The soul of Moses the Prophet was among the most sensitive to the voice of the Lord. How often we read in the five books of Moses: “And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying…” He was the friend and confidant of God. The Lord took him up the mountain where he tasted the sweetness of communion with Him for forty days: enjoying God’s beauty, hearing His voice, his face shining with God’s light, and his heart rejoicing. And God calls His beloved soul saying:
“Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.”
Come—I will speak to you in the wilderness, I will speak to you on the mountain, I will speak to you in the tabernacle of meeting, I will speak to you at the Ark of the Covenant, I will speak to you from the burning bush… I will speak to you everywhere and at all times. I will make you understand My ways and know My paths.
Do not think that the divine voice is only for the mature and grown, for even children have heard God’s voice—like the child Samuel.
God looked upon this young boy, whose pure soul had been dedicated to Him even before his birth, raised in the temple in worship and prayer, and said to him: “Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.”
Come—I will send you, even in your childhood, to Eli the priest with an important message. Come—I will send you with the flask of oil to Saul and to David, that you may anoint the Lord’s chosen ones and reveal His will to His children.
The same divine voice reached the young soul of Jeremiah: “Arise, my love, and come away.”
Arise, young child, for before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you came forth from the womb I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.
The young Jeremiah felt unworthy, saying, “Ah, Lord God! Behold, I cannot speak, for I am a child.”
But the Lord answered this humble vessel, “Behold, I have put My words in your mouth. I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms—a fortified city, an iron pillar, and bronze walls.”
It is an invitation to the soul to come, that the Lord may grant her grace, power, and might—to tread on serpents and scorpions and all the power of the enemy. Thousands fall at her side, ten thousand at her right hand, yet she is unharmed—the snare is broken, and she escapes.
The voice of God here is “the voice of my beloved” speaking in love: “O my love, my fair one.”
It is different from the voice with which God spoke to sinners…
He spoke to Adam after the fall: “Adam, where are you?” And Adam feared the voice of the Lord and said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.”
The voice of God reached Cain, who trembled and said, “My punishment is greater than I can bear. You have driven me from the face of the earth, and from Your face I shall be hidden.”
The same voice reached the foolish rich man: “This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?”
And the voice of God terrified Ahab: “In the place where dogs licked the blood of Naboth, dogs shall lick your blood, even yours.”
All of these were voices of judgment and punishment—but in the Song, it is a voice of love: “The voice of my beloved… Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.” It is a joyful message the Lord carries to the soul, leaping upon the mountains—He wants the call to reach her quickly.
Will the soul respond? Is she ready for the call?
The voice of God reaches the soul in many circumstances—
Sometimes in quietness, like Moses; sometimes amid busyness, worldly entanglements, or crowds—whether in fatigue or in rest. The important thing is that the voice of God reaches the soul and visits her at the right time according to His wisdom and care.
God spoke to Saul of Tarsus amid noise and chaos, among soldiers and arrests and persecution—dragging men and women to prison. In the midst of all this clamor, God called to Saul’s soul: “Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away. Are you at peace with all this violence and persecution? Can you kick against the goads and still be calm?
Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away. Come, I will show you how many things you must suffer for My name’s sake. Come, share in My sufferings and in the tribulations of the saints. And know that amid suffering, you will become more beautiful and more spiritual.”
Another person heard God’s voice amid worldly occupations—Levi, the tax collector. Surrounded by money, accounts, and injustice, his soul was immersed in greed until the Lord lifted it out, saying, “Arise, my love.”
Come—this is not your place. Come, O soul of Levi the tax collector, and I will make you Matthew the Evangelist and Apostle.
Likewise, the Lord called Peter and Andrew amid their nets and boats. They had labored all night and caught nothing, saying, “We toiled all night and took nothing.” Then the Lord called: “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
Come, O soul that has labored in vain after material things. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away—I will make you a fisher of men.
The Lord also called Zacchaeus amid the crowd. Thousands surrounded Christ, and Zacchaeus perhaps thought himself forgotten. But the Lord looked upon that sinful yet longing soul and said, “Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away; for today I must stay at your house.” And that day, salvation came to his house.
The same call reached the wandering souls in the wilderness who had not yet entered the land flowing with milk and honey. For forty years they wandered from desert to desert, from confusion to confusion, without reaching their goal. Finally, God met them and said: “Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away. Enough rebellion and wandering—enough dwelling at this mountain.”
“O soul that strays from Christ, arise, my love, my fair one, and come away,” says the Lord: “Come now, and let us reason together. Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool. If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword.” (Isaiah 1:18–20)
Who among us has not heard this divine voice and risen to do the Lord’s work?
The world, with its sins, pleasures, temptations, distractions, and struggles, also says to the soul: “Arise, my love, and come away.”
And God, in His goodness and through His cross, says the same: “Arise, my love, and come away.”
To which voice does your soul respond?
Beware lest you listen to the world’s voice, for God calls your soul to purify and justify it, to create in it a new heart and renew a right spirit within. He saves it from iniquity, washes it whiter than snow, gives it His divine image, makes it a chosen vessel, and lets His Holy Spirit dwell within it.
Your soul is very dear to the heart of God, who calls her, “Arise, my love.”
This phrase can also be understood as a call to eternal joy:
“Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.”
Come to the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. Come to what no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor has entered into the heart of man.
Come—for in My Father’s house are many mansions. I have prepared a place for you, and now I come to take you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also.
Everything is ready: “Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.”
We notice that God calls this soul “beautiful,” saying, “My love, my fair one”—even if she is sinful.
What does this mean?
When He says “my love,” it is easy to understand, for “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,” and “having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.”
But what does “my fair one” mean?
Our souls are beautiful in God’s eyes—even if weak and fallen—because He sees them not in their present state but in the light of what His grace will make of them.
In Saul the persecutor, He saw Paul the preacher. In Moses the Black the murderer, He saw the gentle and worshipful monk.
God looks at us through the light of His grace, seeing our future beauty, and calls to us, “Arise, my fair one, and come away.”
And the soul, astonished, says:
“How can I be beautiful, Lord? The sun has scorched me! I am black…”
Yes—“I am black but beautiful” (Song 1:6).
You are beautiful, My love, because “I spread My splendor upon you” (Ezekiel 16:14).
The beauty is not your own, for you are sinful; it is My gift and grace to you.
The Prophet Ezekiel explains this soul’s condition in detail:
“You were cast out in the open field, for you were abhorred on the day you were born. When I passed by you and saw you struggling in your blood, I said to you, ‘Live!’… You were naked and bare… And when I passed by you again and looked upon you, indeed, your time was the time of love; so I spread My garment over you and covered your nakedness. Yes, I swore an oath to you and entered into a covenant with you, and you became Mine, says the Lord God. Then I washed you with water; yes, I thoroughly washed off your blood, and I anointed you with oil. I clothed you in embroidered cloth… I put a beautiful crown on your head… You were exceedingly beautiful and succeeded to royalty. Your fame went out among the nations because of your beauty, for it was perfect through My splendor which I had bestowed on you, says the Lord God.” (Ezekiel 16:5–14)
It is a soul once despised, naked, and cast away in her blood—yet the Lord says, “I passed by you, and behold, your time was the time of love.”
How wondrous You are, O Lord—there is none like You among the gods!
What did You do in Your compassion toward this naked and despised soul?
“You spread Your garment over her and covered her nakedness”—here is atonement and redemption.
“You washed her with water”—here is baptism.
“You anointed her with oil”—here is chrismation.
“You clothed her with fine linen”—here is repentance and the life of righteousness in Christ Jesus.
“You entered into a covenant with her, and she became Yours”—here is the mystery of divine marriage, for the Church is the Bride of Christ: “I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.”
“You put a beautiful crown on her head”—here is priesthood.
“And your beauty was perfect through My splendor that I had placed upon you”—“You are all fair, My love.”
Arise then and come away, for the winter is past, the rain is over and gone.
We have entered into the joy of spring; the flowers appear on the earth, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.
Come—let us go early to the fields and lodge in the villages…
—
Article by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III
Al-Keraza Magazine, Year 5, Issue 13, December 28, 1974
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