Tag Archives: Psalms

St. Francis Takes Refuge in the Cleft

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St. Francis, with the wounds of the stigmata visible on his hands and foot, kisses the foot of Christ on the Cross in this detail from a 13th century image in the Arezzo basilica of St. Francis.

St. Francis of Assisi is known for many things. Several episodes in his life have become part of popular culture, some still associated with his name while his connection to others has been forgotten: how many remember that the Christmas manger scene–the creche–was “invented” by St. Francis in 1223?

“For in the day of trouble he [the Lord] shall keep me safe in his shelter; he shall hide me in the secrecy of his dwelling, and set me high upon a rock.” (Psalm 27:7)

As I was reading the psalms last week, I was reminded of another incident in St. Francis’ life. In the autumn of 1224 (the year after he organized the first creche), St. Francis received the stigmata (meaning “brand” or “mark”)–the five wounds of Christ–although this was not generally known until after his death in 1226. The stigmata is commonly referred to as “the wounds of love” described by the bride in the Song of Songs 2:5. The groom then tells the bride, “Come, my dove, in the cleft of the rock…” (Song of Songs 2:13-14).

We are told by St. Gregory of Nyssa that this cleft “is the sublime message of the Gospel” and the person who loves God is not coerced to take refuge in the Gospel but must freely choose to love God and the Good News; St. Gregory points out that King David “realized that of all the things he had done, only those were pleasing to God that were done freely, and so he vows that he will freely offer sacrifice. And this is the spirit of every holy man of God, not to be led by necessity.” What is coerced is not love. Love must be freely given and freely received. Taking refuge in the rock is to freely give oneself to God and to be freely received by God.

The psalm refers to this same idea: the Lord will protect his friend, his beloved from danger by sheltering the beloved in the “secrecy of his dwelling,” the cleft “high upon the rock.” Readers–such as Augustine of Hippo–understood this psalm to promise freedom from sin to the beloved of God; the one who loves God would be kept safe from the danger of damnation even if slain by enemies.

Medieval poets often identified the “cleft in the rock” mentioned by the Song and the psalms with the wounds of Christ, especially the wound in Christ’s side made by the spear. Early Christian authors, such as St. Methodius of Olympus, preached that “Christ slept in the ecstasy of his Passion and the Church–his bride–was brought forth from the wound in his side just as Eve was brought forth from the wound in the side of Adam.”

The stigmata was the seal of St. Francis’ love for God and God’s love for Francis. It was in the refuge of this love that Francis found the safety to love the world which was in such need.

“I am Black and Beautiful:” the Queen of the South

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  • The Queen of Sheba, from a 15th-century manuscript now at Staats – und Universitätsbibliothek Gottingen
  • Sanctae Mariae Coronavi by Giacomo di Mino‘s Gothic version. Circa 1340–1350

The Queen of Sheba, whom Jesus refers to as “the Queen of the South” who “came from the uttermost parts of the earth”, i.e. from the extremities of the then known world, to hear the wisdom of Solomon (Matthew 12:42, Luke 11:31), has long fascinated us. She is a mysterious figure who appears briefly in 1 Kings 10 and 2 Chronicles 9 and then seems to vanish again. Who was she? What do we really know about her? Why should we care?

Sheba, also known as “Saba,” is mentioned in the Psalms. It was a wealthy kingdom that included modern Yemen and Ethiopia and was connected to a vast network of trading routes and business exchanges. When the Queen came to visit King Solomon, it might well have been a trade mission–a sort of G8 meeting!–to make new trade deals and sign new business agreements between the two monarchs. Solomon and the Queen were both known for their wisdom and keen senses; while striking their business deals, they traded riddles. Folklore has suggested many possible riddles that they might have traded, including the famous, “What land has only seen the sun once?” (Answer: the bottom of the Red Sea, which was exposed to sunlight when it parted for Moses and the Hebrews to escape from Egypt.)

Origen, who wrote a voluminous commentary on the Song of Songs, identified the bride of the Song with the “queen of the South” of the Gospels, i.e. the Queen of Sheba, and assumed she was Ethiopian as the bride in the Song says, “I am black and beautiful” (μέλαινα εἰμί καί καλή ). Not only is the bride in the Song identified as the Queen of Sheba, the bride is also understood by Christians to be an allusion to both the Church and the Mother of God. (It is the identification of the Mother of God with the dark and beautiful bride that results in the depictions of the “black Madonna.”) Because of the identification of the bride as Queen, Church, and Mother of God, the Queen of Sheba herself comes to be seen as a type of the Church and the Mother of God: the wonderful gifts of gold and incense that the Queen brings Solomon is seen as a foreshadowing of the adoration of the Magi (Matthew 2) and the Queen of Sheba enthroned represents the coronation of the virgin.