Song Of Songs Of Solomon

The moment the soul is wholly freed from self-appropriation, she is all ready to be received into the nuptial couch of the Bridegroom, where she is no sooner introduced, than, tasting the chaste and holy delights of the Kiss of his mouth, which she desired at first, and which she now enjoys in that Essential Union, which has been bestowed upon her, she cannot refrain from expressing her joy in these words, I am my Beloved's, and my Beloved is mine! O wonderful gain! I can describe it no farther than that I am unreservedly given up to my Beloved, and that I possess him without obstacle, hindrance or restraint!

O, worthy to be envied of the angels! Thou hast at last discovered thy Well-beloved; and though thou art no longer so bold as to say that thou wilt never let Him go, thou hast Him more securely than ever. Thou wilt never lose Him more! Who would not rejoice with thee on so joyful an occasion! -- Thou art so fully thy Beloved's that nothing hinders thee from being lost in Him; since thou has been wholly melted by the heat of his love, thou hast been ready to be poured into Him as into thy final end. [39] Ah! exclaims this imcomparable Spouse, if I am wholly His, He also is wholly mine! for I experience anew of His goodness; He bestows Himself upon me in a manner as unspeakable as it is new; He compensates my pains with the tenderest caresses; He feeds among the lilies of my purity; those of the soul, far more precious to Him than those of the flesh, are an absolute freedom from self-appropriation; a soul freed from self is a virgin soul; those of the body are the integrity of the senses.