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The Song of Songs

Madame Jeanne Marie Guyon

Madame Guyon (Jeanne Marie Bouvier de la Mothe) (1648-1717) was an influential French mystic and author. She was born near Orléans, and was educated in a convent, where she demonstrated ascetic and mystical tendencies. Her desire was to join a monastic order, but in 1664 she was forced into a marriage with a rich man, Jacques Guyon. Independently she continued her ascetic practices – including harsh physical discipline; eventually, under the guidance of a Benedictine prioress, she undertook a vow of mystical marriage with Christ, which lasted long after her husband's death. In 1680 she came under the direction of Père la Combe of the Barnabite order, with whom she preached and spoke of her visions and revelations. Several times she was imprisoned for heresy, before being released in 1703. Her teachings remain inspiring and controversial – rooted in a profound God-centered attitude of self-surrender (often termed "quietist") – very much in the tradition of female mystics of the Church.

A mystical commentary on the Song of Solomon.

This work, Le Cantique de cantiques, interprété selon le sens mystique, was published in 1688, during the time when Madame Guyon and her spiritual director Père la Combe were beginning to experience persecution in response to the mystical ideas she was teaching throughout Europe. It is a mystical commentary of the Song of Songs, for which there had been a long tradition in the church (Origen, Bernard of Clairvaux, and many others) – finding in the erotic Old Testament book expression for the rapturous soul completely in love with God, seeking union with God in Christ. Madame Guyon actually wrote a mystical commentary on the entire Bible, of which this work is a part. This commentary was used as evidence against her in an examination of heresy by archbishop Bossuet (1694-95), resulting in a condemnation of her teachings by the Catholic Church.

    This edition contains extracts from her own defense of her writings, Justifications, in the footnotes.

Inspirational & Devotional

Song of Solomon