Origen wrote in his Commentary on the Song of Songs: If, then, a man . . . has come to renounce the world and all that is therein, he will follow on from that point to contemplate and to desire ‘the things that are not seen’, and ‘that are eternal’. To attain these, however, we need God’s mercy, so that having beheld the beauty of the Word of God, we may be kindled with a saving love for Him, and He Himself may deign to love the soul, whose longings for Himself He has perceived. (Prol., 79.12–21, trans. Lawson 45–6) 2