Song of Solomon 1:12

As long as the king is at his recline. That is, as long as Christ is in his secret, and has not yet appeared to us in the glory of his Father, to render to each according to his work. Then indeed, as Isaiah says: "The eyes of the saints will see the king in his beauty" (Isaiah XXXIII). And hence the Apostle also says: "Your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, our life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory" (Colossians VIII). But he was in his recline, that is, in his hidden place, the king Christ, not only before his incarnation and ascension into heaven, but even at that time when he appeared visibly to the world in the flesh, because not then either did he show the clarification of the assumed humanity or the eternal glory of divinity to his faithful who remained with him in the flesh, which he promised to all the elect as a reward of faith in the future life. However, our edition, which is translated from the Hebrew source, joins the end of this verse, where it is said: "As long as the king is at his recline," to the following verse, which is to be discussed henceforth. But the Church, having received so many gifts or promises from her Creator, immediately responded, and declared with what devotion of works she received them, by adding, saying:

While the king was at his table, etc. However, he calls the king's table the time of his incarnation, through which he deigned to humble himself for us and be lowered so that we might be raised. In this table, he also wished to refresh his church with vital food and himself to be refreshed by its good deeds. Hence, he says: I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever (John 6). And again, speaking to the disciples about the believing peoples, he says: I have food to eat that you do not know about (John 4). Truly the smell of nard represents the fragrance of good action. While the king was at his table, he says, my nard gave its scent: because when the Son of God appeared in the flesh, the Church grew in the fervor of heavenly virtues. Not that it did not have spiritual and God-devoted men before his incarnation, but because without any doubt, it then dedicated itself to more rigorous pursuits of virtues when it realized that the entrance to the heavenly kingdom would be open to all who live rightly as soon as they were freed from the bonds of the flesh. It should be noted that the description of this verse was also literally fulfilled in the deeds of Mary Magdalene, who held the type of the Church, when she, with the Lord reclining at the dinner, poured ointment of nard on his head and feet, and the house was filled with the fragrance of the ointment, as the holy Gospels testify. In one Gospel, it is also indicated what the nature of this nard is when it says: A woman came having an alabaster flask of very costly ointment of pure nard (Mark 14): because its tops spread like spikes; therefore, the perfumers celebrate the spikes and leaves of the nard with twin gifts. Physiologists write that it is principal among ointments. Hence, it was suitably prepared for the anointing of the Lord's body. Moreover, it is a shrub, they say, with a heavy and thick root, but short, black, and fragile, although it is oily, smelling like cypress with a harsh taste, a small and dense leaf. There are many kinds of it, but all are precious, except the Indian one, which is more precious.