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Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth. [SoS 1:2]
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E. M. Lilien: Lied der Lieder
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I do not presume to think that I shall be kissed by his mouth. That is the unique
felicity and singular prerogative of the humanity he assumed. But, more humbly, I
ask to be kissed by the kiss of his mouth, which is shared by many, those who can
say, “Indeed from his fullness we have all received”. [John 1:16]
Listen carefully here. The mouth which kisses signifies the Word who assumes
human nature; the flesh which is assumed is the recipient of the kiss; the kiss, which
is both giver and receiver, is the Person which is of both, the Mediator between
God and man, the man Christ Jesus [1 Tim. 2:5].
For this reason, none of the saints presumed to say, “Let him kiss me with his
mouth,” but “with the kiss of his mouth,” thus acknowledging that
prerogative of him on whom uniquely once and for all the Mouth of the word was
pressed, when the whole fullness of the divinity gave itself to him in the
body [Col. 2:9].
O happy kiss, and wonder of amazing self-humbling which is not a mere
meeting of lips, but the union of God with man. The touching of lips signifies the
bringing together of souls. But this conjoining of natures unites the human with the
divine and makes peace between earth and heaven. For he himself is our
peace, who made the two one [Eph. 2:14].
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(HarperCollins Spiritual Classics). New
York: Paulist Press, 1987. Pp. 216ff.
