The great mystic, St. Teresa of Avila, said that in the Old Testament book, the ‘Song of Songs’, the Lord is teaching the soul how to pray.
“…In this Song of Songs, you teach the soul what to say to you…
We can make the Bride’s prayer our own.”
If Teresa is right and this is the kind of language in which God longs to hear the soul speak, we may need to make a radical shift in our perception of what it is to love and be loved by God.
Prayer as passionate seeking, as desolation in the absence of the beloved, and rapture in finding him – this kind of prayer seems utterly outside a day to day experience. It may even feel shocking.
Perhaps it is not surprising that Solomon’s Song features nowhere among readings for Sundays and Holy Days in the Catholic Lectionary, and only two passages are used in the Revised Common Lectionary.
And yet this tremendous song has always been accepted as Sacred Scripture.
Pray with this extraordinary hymn of praise, read by David Suchet (the actor best known for his television role as Agatha Christie’s detective, Hercule Poirot).
Access the recording at www.newpilgrimpath.ie.