Bede

Who can find a strong woman? etc. The strong woman is called the Catholic Church: a woman, namely, because she customarily gives birth to spiritual children to God through water and the Holy Spirit; strong, because she despises all adversities and prosperities of the world for the faith of her Creator, whom, when He appeared in the flesh, He found weak, but by His finding, that is by His pious visitation, made her strong. Hence, after His redemption returning to the heavens, rejoicing with the heavenly citizens, He said: "Rejoice with me, because I have found my sheep which was lost" (Luke 15). Therefore, seeing the human race entangled in innumerable errors, and that for its salvation, no patriarch, no prophet, no elect at all was sufficient, except the only Mediator of God and men, Solomon said: "Who can find a strong woman? Her price is far above rubies." As if he openly, admiringly, confessed the future grace of the Lord, saying, "Who is of such virtue, who of such merit, who from so many unbelieving and wicked nations of the world would gather one Church of the elect for himself, which by His grace He makes strong and invincible against all adversaries? Surely, no one similar to us, nor is anyone in our time coming, but at the end of the ages, God is descending from heaven as man, who redeems us by His passion. This is what he says, "Her price is far above rubies." Far, indeed, in the state of time, which intervened from the days of Solomon up to the birth of the Virgin. However, from the utmost ends, because "His going forth is from the end of heaven" (Psalm 19), He who offered nothing else for our redemption but himself. Whence the Apostle says, "Who loved us, and gave himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma" (Ephesians 5). And although it can rightly be understood this way, that the price of the holy Church was placed far off, because the incarnation, the conversation of the Word of God among men, passion and resurrection were far removed from the condition of our nature; for He, when He willed, was born from whichever mother He willed, and lived sinlessly in the world; and when He willed, and by whichever death He willed, He departed from the world. He also had in His power the time of His resurrection and ascension, and things of this sort; in which as far from us as heaven is from earth. But because the Lord redeemed the Church, He not only gave her the word of salvation to receive but also the enduring certitude to contend for it, and this to preach throughout the world. Rightly, therefore, it is added:

"The heart of her husband trusts in her," etc. The husband of the holy Church is her Lord and Redeemer, who also deigned to become her price. Whence the Apostle also says to the believers, "For I have betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a chaste virgin to Christ" (2 Corinthians 11). Therefore, what he says, "The heart of her husband trusts in her," is undoubtedly drawn from human practice; just as he who has a strong, faithful, and chaste wife, confidently trusts in her because she can do nothing against his will, nor be contaminated even by adulterous thought, she would gladly endure all adversities for his love and desire to convert anyone to his friendship, thus undeniably does our Lord and Redeemer trust in the Church. For He knows the spirit of grace which He gave, He knows the power of charity which He infused into her breast. Therefore, He does not doubt that she will not only be incorruptibly firm in the integrity of faith but will also continually strive to gather more into the unity of that same faith. For this is what follows, "And she will not lack gain," the Church spoils the devil when through her preachers, she calls back those whom he had deceived to the path of truth. And well it is said, "Will not lack gain," for the Church will never cease to restore souls freed from the diabolical deceit to the faith of Christ until, with the completed course of the world, the fixed number of her members is also completed. However, because whatever good the holy Church or any faithful soul achieves, it receives it from above, it is rightly added,

"She brings him good, and not harm," etc. For the soul renders good to Christ when, receiving the gifts of life from Him, it responds by living rightly, when it strives to impart to others that which through His help it can know or do. But well after saying, "She brings him good," immediately added, "And not harm," because surely there are those who, receiving good things from the Lord, repay evils, either by polluting the mysteries of faith which they received with heretical corruption, or by blaspheming the faith which they serve with false deeds; or by corrupting the good morals with which they serve with right faith through evil conduct. For neither do they return the good they received to the Lord, who do not care to persist in good beginnings until the end of the current life. Whence rightly after saying, "She brings him good, and not harm," to show the necessity of perseverance in good, it is added, "All the days of her life." Similar is the evangelical saying, "That we might serve Him in holiness and righteousness before Him, all our days" (Luke 1). By which proper duties, or by which fruits of justice or holiness, it is fitting for him to especially persist who diligently strives to repay the good he received from the Lord, it is subsequently shown when it is said:

"She seeks wool and flax," etc. The beginning of this verse, the strong woman, that is the holy Church, customarily takes and observes even according to the letter; according to the prophetic saying, "When you see the naked, cover him, and do not hide yourself from your own flesh" (Isaiah 58). However, she works not with superfluous and blind labor, but certainly with that counsel, that she may deserve to hear from her own husband, namely the Lord Christ, in judgment, "I was naked, and you clothed me" (Matthew 25); and "As you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me" (Ibid.). But she works with the counsel of her own hands, that is, those persons, through whom she distributes alms to the poor. In this devoted work, he very profitably uses this advice, that when dispersing he gives to the poor, he is not praised by men at that time, but his righteousness endures from generation to generation, his horn is exalted in glory (Psalm III). Mystically, however, everything of simplicity and piety which we bestow on our neighbors can be received in the wool, which is the clothing of sheep. As punishment of our flesh can be indicated in the linen, which greenily springs from the earth but loses its native moisture through long and numerous exercises and reaches the grace of new whiteness. While we boil out the ingrained filth of vices through continence, we indeed make it worthy to be donned by Christ, according to that of the Apostle, "For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ" (Galatians III). Therefore, the strong woman seeks wool and linen and works with the counsel of her hands, when the holy Church diligently seeks what fruits of piety she may exercise, how to cleanse herself from carnal allurements. And she does both of these with the most prudent counsel, that is, only in view of the reward of modernity. This reward is also more openly remembered in the following verse, when it is added, "She is like the merchant ship, etc." He calls the merchant a trader, who is so called by the ancients because he diligently attends to acquiring and multiplying goods. Therefore, the strong woman becomes like the merchant ship, for just as the merchant ship, laden with merchandise that is more abundant in its homeland, seeks other lands by sea so that, selling what it had brought, it may bring back more expensive goods home, so indeed the holy Church, thus every perfect soul rejoices to be laden with the riches of virtues, by which it may purchase greater gifts of divine grace. For it is an excellent commerce when the good deeds we are able to perform first receive this reward from the Lord, that we always progress to greater deeds, then also receive eternal life. Therefore, the holy soul becomes like the merchant ship, which crosses the waves of the present world by desire, and solely hopes to receive eternal joys in heaven, meditates on these, and strives to perform whatever it is capable of to acquire these more abundantly, to boldly overcome whatever adverse circumstances it encounters. Rightly it is said that she brings her food from afar, because in everything she does temporally good, she expects only the eternal reward, desires only the satisfaction of the living bread, indeed of Him who mercifully and powerfully promises his hearers, "Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Matthew XI). But on the contrary, he receives his bread nearby and does not bring it across seas from afar, who appears to live justly purely for human approval. By no intuition of enduring life does he strive to surpass and trample upon those things that are slipping away excessively. Of such people, He himself terrifyingly thunders, "Verily I say to you, they have received their reward." And she rises while it is still night and gives prey to her household, etc. Just as the whole course of the fading world is varied by the alternating presence of day and night, and indeed, the day is naturally made for working, not resting, so the whole time of the present Church is distinguished by a certain dual state of rest and work. It is as if she rests at night when some of her faithful, having momentarily dropped external concerns, begin to care for themselves spiritually or secretly exercise themselves in studies such as sacred readings, orations, and tears. But she rises while it is still night, when she earnestly girds herself in the same faithful to also care for others, which work of brotherly administration she customarily exercises in two ways, both by calling those who wandered outside to the grace of faith, and by continually stirring those who are already imbued with the sacraments of faith to more diligently insist on good works. Hence it is well said, "She gave prey to her household, and food to her maidservants." She gives prey to her household when she is able to teach to snatch them from the old enemy, reconciling them to the society of those who preceded them in faith. She also gives food to her maidservants, when she refreshes the humble and those maintaining a due fear, with the reminder of the heavenly reward, lest they grow weary under pious labor.

"She considers a field and buys it, etc." The field means the possession of the heavenly inheritance. About which the patriarch blessedly speaks to his son Isaac: "Behold, the smell of my son is as the smell of a field which the Lord has blessed" (Genesis XXVII). For the odor of the saints is as the odor of a field which the Lord has blessed, because with the whole intent of their mind they contemplate what the fullness of blessing is in the homeland of the heavenly kingdom. Therefore the Church considered the field and bought it, because she diligently learned what are the joys of eternal life, and strove to labor whatever she could for their attainment. She even planted a vineyard from the fruit of her hands, because she established holy scripture from the fruitful deeds and words of her faithful, through which to strengthen the minds of her listeners in faith and love of their Redeemer. Nor is it irrelevant if by the name of vineyard we understand it to represent the Church itself, which is designated by the strong woman, and the offspring of the vineyard are the sons of the woman. The woman planted the vineyard when the early Church widely spread the seeds of faith through the world by sending out preachers. For she considered the field when she saw that the entire world, horrid with the thorns of vices, needed a spiritual cultivator. She indeed bought it when, sending teachers everywhere, she conferred the talent of the word on listeners, so that by believing she may subject them to the most blissful servitude of Christ. Moreover, she planted a vineyard in that field when she founded the Church among the newly believing peoples by the full instruction of evangelical truth. Which vineyard she planted from the fruit of her hands, because the apostles and their successors not only instructed the peoples verbally, but also joined the testimony of good works and the signs of miracles to their words of doctrine. But even up to this day and indeed until the end of the world, a strong woman considers a field and buys it, and from the fruits of her hands she plants a vineyard, because the holy Church is always diligently searching whom it can convert to the faith. And whoever it finds to be receptive, it buys them with the money of the word, into the service of Christ; and in them it strives to plant the vineyard of Christ, or rather to make them the vineyard of Christ. And because anyone who desires to teach another should first abstain from evil himself and exercise himself in good deeds, it is rightly added:

She tasted and saw that her trading was good, etc. What he says, "Her trading," surely refers to that field which he mentioned above: "She considered a field and bought it." Therefore, the holy Church tasted, a perfect soul tasted, that is, recognized from the innermost desire of the mind, that the trading of everlasting life is good, which we merit in heaven by forsaking temporal allurements. She tasted, that is, she clearly learned that it is good through the insistence of preaching to lead as many as possible into the way of truth. And therefore, the lamp of her devotion cannot be extinguished by any darkness of tribulations, nor even by death itself. For their lamp is extinguished in the night, even though it seems to burn by day, who, as the Lord says: "For a while believe, and in a time of temptation fall away" (Luke VIII); but even their lamp is extinguished at midnight who, when the judge comes, are found to have no oil of charity in the vases of their hearts, while, having lost the boast of false virtues, they undergo the torments of real darkness. But if we wish to interpret night here as rest, as is said above, "She rose from the night," that is, she prepared herself to work after rest, it is aptly said that the lamp of the holy Church is not extinguished in the night because even when she rests from the business of action, she is more freely devoted to the light of heavenly contemplation. While she ceases from public works, she takes care to more ardently dedicate herself either to the hearing of sacred readings or divine praise: like the example of the industrious woman who not only tends to necessary labors by day but also often at night, by the light of the burning lamp, takes equal care of the household.

She put her hand to strong things, etc. By strong things are meant the perfect works in the charity of Christ, to which the Church joyfully subjected herself in the expectation of certain heavenly reward; for example, "You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you," etc. (Matthew V); and concerning the preservation of virginity: "He who can accept this, let him accept it" (Matthew XIX); and concerning the disdain of riches: "If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have," etc. (Ibid.). For the people of the Synagogue, to whom it was said, "If you are willing and obey me, you shall eat the good things of the land" (Isaiah I), were much weaker in the work of justice, the less they were elevated by the hope of eternal reward. But the Church, which heard from the Lord, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near" (Matthew III), rightly endures anything difficult for the sake of receiving it. Therefore it is again said of her strength, "The kingdom of heaven suffers violence and the violent take it by force" (Matthew XI). And her fingers, he says, grasp the spindle. Women are accustomed to hold the spindle in the right hand and the distaff in the left. For the wool wound on the distaff, which must pass into the spindle to be spun into thread, is often referenced in the Scriptures as the right hand signifying eternal life, and the left hand signifying the present gifts of God, namely, the abundance of things, peace of times, health of bodies, knowledge of the Scriptures, and understanding of heavenly sacraments. When we receive these and similar goods from the Lord, it is as if we carry the wool wrapped on the distaff in the left hand. But when we begin to practice them wholesomely for the love of the heavenly, we transfer the wool of the spotless Lamb from the distaff to the spindle, from the left to the right, because from the gifts of our Redeemer, from the examples of His works, we make for ourselves the robe of heavenly glory and the wedding garment of charity. The fingers, by which it is said she grasps the spindle, signify the very intent of discretion with which one works, for there is no part of our body more divided by joints and apt for flexing than the fingers. Therefore, whoever can truly say with the Apostle, "Our citizenship is in heaven" (Philippians III), from where also we eagerly await our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, surely the fingers of his right hand grasp the spindle, for by careful discernment, he has learned to labor for eternal goods. And well does he say "grasp," to emphasize more vivaciously with how much zeal and haste we must act during this uncertain life for the sure rewards with the Lord. What the strong woman, that is, the holy Church or any perfected soul, has wrought by the intellectual spindle is subsequently revealed: