Catholic Commentaries on the Dove of Song of Songs 6:8

 When I first started studying the concept of the infallibility of the Church in the Early Church Fathers, I came across a repeated citation of the Dove of Song of Songs 6:8 in the context of the purity and unity of the Church. This got me thinking, how many other Fathers and Theologians interpret that verse in such a way? 

That question led me to compiling a very interesting florilegium, or compilation of quotations from tradition, on the verse. These are in no particular order, except that the Theologians come after the Fathers. Please enjoy.

“This is that holy Church which is without spot or wrinkle. For many others have gathered together Churches, as Marcion, and Valentinus, and Ebion, and Manichaeus, and Arius, and all the other heretics. But those Churches are not without spot or wrinkle of unfaithfulness. And therefore the Prophet said of them, ‘I hate the Church of the malignants, and I will not sit with the ungodly.’ But of this Church which keeps the faith of Christ entire, hear what the Holy Spirit says in the Canticles, ‘My dove is one; the perfect one of her mother is one.’” (Rufinus of Aquileia, A Commentary on the Apostles’ Creed, Chapter 39)

“‘One is my dove, my perfect one.’ All things are completed in her… But there are eighty concubines, who were to be found among the queens even before the earthly reign, that is, the reign of the faith and this bride and virgin herself, who is unspotted and a ‘dove,’ the ‘only daughter of her mother, even of her that bore her…’ the church is engendered by one faith and born with the help of the Holy Spirit, and is ‘the only daughter of the only mother, and the one daughter of her that bore her.’ And all the women who came after and before her have been called concubines. They have not been entire strangers to the covenant and inheritance, but have no stated dowry and are not receptacles of the Holy Spirit, but have only an illicit union with the Word.” (Epiphanius, De Fide, Chapters 5 and 6)

“As there is one Eve who is ‘the mother of all living,’ so is there one church which is the parent of all Christians. And as the accursed Lamech made of the first Eve two separate wives, so also the heretics sever the second into several churches which, according to the Apocalypse of John, ought rather to be called synagogues of the devil than congregations of Christ. In the Book of Canticles we read as follows: ‘there are threescore queens, and fourscore concubines, and virgins without number. My dove, my undefiled is but one; she is the only one of her mother, she is the choice one of her that bare her.’” (Jerome, Epistle 123 To Ageruchia)

“You asked by letter what is meant by, ‘Sixty are the queens,' and what follows. Take note, then, that the pure and undefiled virgin Church rightly holds the foremost place, she who preserves the true faith in God; she herself is called the perfect dove, surpassing all ranks and orders in dignity.” (Isidore of Pelusium, Registry of Epistles, Book IV, n. 5)

“Neither the queens, nor the concubines, nor the virgins, are compared to the Church. For she is reckoned the perfect and chosen one beyond all these, consisting and composed of all the apostles, the Bride who surpasses all in the beauty of youth and virginity. Therefore, also, she is blessed and praised by all, because she saw and heard freely what those desired to see, even for a little time, and saw not, and to hear, but heard not. ‘For blessed,’ said our Lord to His disciples, ‘are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for they hear. For verily I say unto you, that many prophets have desired to see those things which you see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which you hear, and have not heard them.’ For this reason, then, the prophets count them blessed, and admire them, because the Church was thought worthy to participate in those things which they did not attain to hear or see. ‘For there are threescore queens, and fourscore concubines, and virgins without number. My dove, my undefiled, is but one.’” (Methodius, Concerning Chastity, Discourse VII)

“…the Church of the Apostles, which one Church, also, the Holy Spirit in the Song of Songs designated in the person of our Lord, and says, ‘My dove, my spotless one, is but one. She is the only one of her mother, elect of her that bare her.’ Does he who does not hold this unity of the Church think that he holds the faith? Does he who strives against and resists the Church trust that he is in the Church?” (Cyprian of Carthage, On the Unity of the Church, Chapter 4)

When after the Apostles heresies had burst forth, and were striving under various names to tear piecemeal and divide the Dove and the Queen of God, did not the Apostolic people require a name of their own, whereby to mark the unity of the people that were uncorrupted, lest the error of some should rend limb by limb the undefiled virgin of God? …Wherefore our people when named Catholic are separated by this appellation from the heretical name. But if also the word Catholic means ‘everywhere one,’ as those first think, David indicates this very thing, when he saith, ‘The queen did stand in a vesture of gold, wrought about with diverse colours;’ that is, one amidst all. And in the Canticle of Canticles, the Bridegroom speaketh these words, ‘My dove, My undefiled, is but one; she is the only one of her mother; she is the choice one of her that bare her.’ Again it is written, ‘The virgins shall be brought unto the King after her.’ And further, ‘Virgins without number.’ Therefore amidst all she is one, and one over all.” (Pacian, Epistle I, Chapters 5 and 8) “It is now our business to show (as we promised that we would do in the second place) which is the One Church, called by Christ His Dove and His Bride.” (Optatus of Miletus, Against the Donatists, Book II, Chapter 1)

“And if our communion is the Church of Christ, then your communion is not the Church of Christ. For that is one, wherever it is, of which it is said, ‘My dove is but one; she is the only one of her mother;’ nor can there be just so many churches as there are schisms. But if we should say that sins are not there remitted, then, say they, there is no true baptism there; and therefore ought you to baptize those whom you receive from us. And since you do not do this, you confess that you are not in the Church of Christ.” (Augustine, On Baptism Against the Donatists, Book I, Chapter 11)

"...perhaps the fellow disciples of Peter were present when our Lord by charging him, and no one else, with the care of all the flocks, commended to them all the unity of one flock and one shepherd, according as it is written, ‘My dove, my beautiful, my perfect, is but one.’ Where there is unity there is perfection. The other numbers are not perfect, but admit of division, falling short of unity.” (Bernard of Clairveux, On Consideration, Book II, Chapter VIII)

“...the holy Church has four essential conditions: she is one, she is holy, she is Catholic, that is, universal, and she is strong and firm. Of the first, it must be known that although various heretics have founded various sects, they do not belong to the Church, since they are divided into parts: but the Church is one: ‘one is my dove, my perfect one.’ (Thomas Aquinas, Sermons on the Apostles’ Creed, Article 9) "...urged by faith, we are obliged to believe and to maintain that the Church is one, holy, catholic, and also apostolic. We believe in her firmly and we confess with simplicity that outside of her there is neither salvation nor the remission of sins, as the Spouse in the Canticles proclaims: ‘One is my dove, my perfect one. She is the only one, the chosen of her who bore her,‘ and she represents one sole mystical body whose Head is Christ.” (Pope Boniface VIII, Unam Sanctam, Chapter 1) “...some other words, such as…dove [and] immaculate… are certainly descriptions of the church either for the sake of the just or even for the sake of the elect.” (Melchior Cano, De Locis Theologicis, Book IV, Chapter 6)

"The names of the Church are...a city, a kingdom, etc...and a dove, corresponding to the verse in the Canticle of Canticles 6: ‘One is my dove,’ as Augustine says; a dove and queen, as Pacian says.” (De Groot, De Ecclesia, Question II, Article 1) "The Church is called a dove, as it is read in the Song of Songs 5, 'My beloved, my dove.' And again in Song of Songs 6, 'One is my dove.' This is because she is singularly illumined by the gifts of the Holy Spirit." (Juan de Torquemada, Summa de Ecclesia, Book I, Chapter 36) Next time, I'll dive into Augustine's and Torquemada's understanding of the Dove.