It was a very hot day
when Abraham
was sitting by the entrance of his tent.
It was a very hot day
when Abraham
was sitting by the Oak of Mamre.
He looked up and there he saw
three men standing near him;
they stood in front of him.
As soon as he saw them
he bowed to the ground and said:
”O my Lord,
don't pass by, I beg you,
without stopping!”
”Without stopping,
don't pass by, I beg you,
without stopping,
without stopping.”
”I'll bring you a little water,
you'll wash your feet
and lie down under the tree.
I'll bring you a little bread,
you'll refresh yourselves
before going further.
Not by chance
have you passed today
near me.”
”O my Lord,
don't pass by, I beg you,
without stopping,
without stopping!
Without stopping,
don't pass by, I beg you,
without stopping,
without stopping!”

Lord, you search me and you know me,
you know when I lie down and when I get up.
From afar, you know my thoughts,
you are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my lips,
you, O Lord,
already know it.
You press me from behind,
you attack me from the front
and at the same time
you keep your hand on me:
such knowledge is mysterious to me,
knowledge I cannot grasp,
knowledge too high for me to understand.
But where shall I go, far from your spirit?
where, from your face, shall I flee?
If I climb the heavens, you are there;
if I descend to death, there I find you.
You press me from behind,
you attack me from the front
and at the same time, you keep your hand on me:
such knowledge is mysterious to me,
knowledge I cannot grasp,
knowledge too high for me to understand.
Lord, you search me and you know me,
you put my heart to the test,
so that I may not walk in a way of duplicity,
so that I may never abandon your way.

You who dwell in the gardens,
where my companions are listening,
let me hear your voice,
let me hear your voice.
Flee, my beloved,
like a gazelle,
like a young stag,
on the sweet scented mountains.
I am in his eyes
as one who has found peace,
my vineyard is here in front of me,
my vineyard is here in front of me,
Flee, my beloved,
like a gazelle,
like a young stag,
on the sweet scented mountains.
You who dwell in the gardens…
The Church through Baptism has been introduced into the gardens of the Kingdom "where the
companions are listening."
There, as she has been made mother and teacher of all nations because of the experience of
love she has received and because of the suffering, the joys, the failures, the recoveries and – we
could say – because of the history of salvation that the Song of Songs expresses, the Church is
invited by the Bridegroom to let her voice be heard in a final yearning.
The Church answers with an eschatological paschal cry: what she has come to know and
experienced of the Bridegroom makes her desire to flee with him in a final exodus "to the sweet
scented mountains," which is Heaven, forever free.