Today's meditation: The splendor of the soul illuminates the grace of the body

I address you, who come from the People, from the common people, but you belong to the host of virgins. In you the splendor of the soul radiates on the external grace of the person. This is why you are a faithful image of the Church.
To you I say: locked in your room, never stop keeping your thoughts on Christ, even at night. In fact, you remain at every moment waiting for his visit. That's what he wants from you, that's why he chose you. He will enter if he finds your door open. Be sure, he has promised to come and his word will not fail. When he comes, the one you have sought, embrace him, become familiar with him and you will be enlightened. Hold him, pray that he will not leave soon, ask him not to go away. Indeed, the Word of God runs, does not feel tired, is not taken by negligence. May your soul meet him on his word, and then entertain the imprint left by his divine speech: he passes quickly.
And what does the virgin say for her? I searched for it but didn't find it; I called him but he did not answer me (cf. Ct 5,6). If he has gone away so early, do not believe that he is not happy with you who invoked him, prayed to him, opened the door for him: he often allows us to be tested. See what he says in the Gospel to the crowds who begged him not to leave: I must bring the announcement of the word of God to other cities as well, for this reason I have been sent (cf. Lk 4,43:XNUMX).
But even if it looks like he's gone, go find him again.
It is from the holy Church that you must learn to hold back Christ. In fact, he has already taught you if you understand well what you read: I had just passed the guards when I found the beloved of my heart. I held him tight and I will not leave him (cf. Ct 3,4). So what are the means by which to keep Christ? Not the violence of the chains, not the holds of the ropes, but the bonds of charity, the bonds of the spirit. The love of the soul holds him back.
If you also want to possess Christ, seek him unceasingly and do not fear suffering. It is often easier to find it among the tortures of the body, in the hands of the persecutors. She says: Little time had passed since I had passed them. In fact, once free from the hands of the persecutors and victorious over the powers of evil, immediately, Christ will immediately meet you, nor will he allow your trial to continue.
She who seeks Christ in this way, who has found Christ, can say: I held him tight and I will not leave him until I have brought him to my mother's house, to my parent's room (cf. Ct 3,4). What is your mother's house, room if not the most intimate sanctuary of your being?
Guard this house, purify its interior. Having become perfectly clean, and no longer polluted by the ugliness of infidelity, arise as a spiritual house, cemented with the cornerstone, rise into a holy priesthood, and the Paraclete Spirit dwells in it. She who seeks Christ in this way, who thus prays to Christ, is not abandoned by him, indeed receives frequent visits. In fact, he is with us until the end of the world.

of Saint Ambrose, bishop