The Winter Is Now Past.Saint Gregory of Nyssa.

"My beloved calls to me, “Arise, my darling. Come away with me, my beautiful one. For now the winter is past; the rain is over and gone. The flowers have appeared in the countryside; the season of singing has come, and the cooing of turtledoves is heard in our land"(Cant2: 10-12).…

And the flowers beamed

 in the countryside...

The Word has spoken to the bride, calling her my love because she is close to Him, and my dove because she is beautiful. He now goes on to say that the sadness of winter no longer dominates our souls. For the cold cannot resist the rays of the sun. Behold, He says, winter is now past, the rain is over and gone (Cant. 2.II).

Sin is given many different names in accordance with its different effects. It is called winter, rain, drops-each name suggesting a different sort of temptation. In wintertime everything that is lovely withers away. All the leaves, which are the natural crown of the beauty of the trees, fall from the branches and are mingled with earth. The song of the birds is silent, the nightingale flies away, the swallow sleeps, and the dove leaves its nest.

Everything imitates the oppression of death. The blossom perishes; the grass dies; the branches are stripped of their leaves like bones of their flesh, and what was once lovely flower and leaf is now an ugly spectacle.

To this we may add the change that comes over the sea in the winter: churned up and swollen from its depths it rises in peaks and mountains, and the water mounts up like a cliff. Rising beyond its limits, it attacks the land as though it were an enemy and strikes with the successive blows of its waves, reminding us of the assaults of military machines.

Keep in mind, then, all the things we see in winter, that we may transpose them to a more allegorical level.

What is it that withers and fades in the winter?! What falls from the branches of the trees and dissolves in the earth?!

What is the meaning of the silence of the birds' song, and the sea tossed by the waves?!.

What, again, is the rain and the rain-drops, and how does it pass over?!. In all of this the deeper meaning of the text suggests that the winter is something human and endowed with freedom of will.

Now even though my discourse may not explain each I point, the meaning of all of these details will be quite clear to our audience. Man's nature in the beginning flourished while it was in Paradise, growing fat and thriving on the water of the fountain there; and he flourished so long as he had the blossom of immortality and not the leaves.

But when the winter of disobedience came and withered its roots, the blos­som was shaken off and fell to the ground.

Man was thus stripped of his immortality; the grass of virtue was dried up; the love of God was chilled by repeated sin; and the passions were stirred up into a great swell by stormy winds, causing many souls to be shipwrecked.

But then came One Who brought spring to our souls. And whenever an evil wind churned up the sea, He scolded the winds and spoke to the sea: Peace, be still (Mark 4.39). And thus all was brought to peace and calm. Our nature began once again to blossom and reveal its beauty with its own flowers. For the flowers of life are the virtues, which blossom now and bring forth their fruit in season.

This is why the sacred text tells us: Winter is now past, the rain is over and gone. The flowers have appeared in our land, the time of pruning is come (Cant. 2.n-I2).

Do you see, He says, the meadow blossoming with flowers?!...

Do you see chastity, shining like a fragrant lily?!...

Arise and come...

Do you see the rose of modesty, and the violet, the good odor of Christ?!... Why not make a garland of these? Now is the time to gather these flowers and adorn ourselves with them. The time of pruning is come. This is what we are told by the voice of the turtle (Cant. 2.12), that is, the voice crying in the wilderness (Matth. 3.3).

For John is the turtle-dove, the harbinger of lovely spring: he points out to men the fair flowers of virtue and offers them to those who are willing to gather them. It was thus he showed us the flower that sprang from Jesse's root, the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world, and showed us the penance we must do for our sins, the lives of virtue that we must lead.

For this reason the Word says once again to His awakened bride: Arise; and when she has come, Com(Cant2: 13). For he who is rising can always rise further; and for him who runs to the Lord, the open field of the divine course is never exhausted.

We must therefore constantly arouse ourselves and never stop drawing closer and closer in our course. For as often as He says Arise, and Come, He gives us the power to rise and make progress.

Reference:

Saint Gregory of Nyssa. From Glory to Glory.(1979).