Song 7:13 | CPDV | STEP | Let us go up in the morning to the vineyards; let us see if the vineyard has flourished, if the flowers are ready to bear fruit, if the pomegranates have flourished. There I will give my breasts to you. The mandrakes yield their fragrance. At our gates is every fruit. The new and the old, my beloved, I have kept for you.

Song of Solomon 7:13

13 Let us go up in the morning to the vineyards; let us see if the vineyard has flourished, if the flowers are ready to bear fruit, if the pomegranates have flourished. There I will give my breasts to you. ^{▼▼7:13This is the bride speaking to the groom. Notice that she uses the first person plural, because now the two are more closely united than at the start of the Song. +The morning is a time of light for the world. Christ and His Church examine the vineyard of the world, and of the faithful in the world, to see what fruit it has born.(Conte)} The mandrakes yield their fragrance. At our gates is every fruit. The new and the old, my beloved, I have kept for you. ^{▼▼7:14The bride is now ready to be married to the groom; she rejoices in their impending marriage. +The Church is now ready for the Return of Christ. She has preserved the old, the teachings of Tradition and Scripture, and she has achieved new insights into those teachings and new Saints who follow those teachings.(Conte)}